Gentlemen, On Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 6:25 AM, Mark Wendt (Contractor) < [email protected]> wrote:
> On 3/16/2012 10:31 PM, Stuart Stevenson wrote: > > Gentlemen, > > Just how do you 'market' a free item/product? The free LinuxCNC > software > > is not even a loss leader. The whole thing is free - all the time - even > > the advice - even the help. > > Just asking. > > thanks > > Stuart > > > Stuart, > > Marketing is marketing, whether for profit or for non-profit. Even if > free, you still want to be able to "give" it away. Like Kent mentioned, > Case Studies and perhaps Testimonials are our "Free" advertising. > That's the kind of stuff that needs to be in big, bold letters for folks > looking at our stuff and wondering whether it's worth their time and > effort to install the software, and become part of our user base. We > need to show them what the software can do for them, how our support > works, and how it all benefits them. > In my opinion : Marketing LinuxCNC for the purpose of giving it away is a waste of time and resources. The time and resources would be better spent improving and expanding LinuxCNC. Donating time and resources to further the development of LinuxCNC is one way of improving the project (notice is said project not product). Helping someone learn is a very important part of improving and expanding LinuxCNC. Organizing an event, producing a video or brochure to help educate people about LinuxCNC (in my case for my own education) is a good way of contributing. > Otherwise, if they see no benefit, they'll say the hell with it and > become a Mach user. > Mach has a valid place in the world. Many of the Mach users have no interest in software/machine control development. Those users want a 'solution' with committed support to get a process running. Mach is perfect for that. LinuxCNC is not perfect for that. Helping someone understand LinuxCNC is different than marketing it to them. A valid consultation about the comparative benefits of Mach or LinuxCNC or another system would sometimes result in telling a prospective user that LinuxCNC is NOT the best choice to answer their need. A paid consultant would be required to have knowledge of Mach, LinuxCNC and other systems to be able to properly advise the correct 'solution'. I don't have Mach on any machines. I cannot tell you if Mach is better for any particular process or not. I do have (or have had/used/ran) Fanuc, Siemens, Haas, Fadal, Hurco, Moog, Heidenhain, Allen-Bradley, Mazak and probably I have missed one or two. Each of these is a valid solution and maybe the best solution to a particular need. LinuxCNC is unique in that it is more capable than any of the afore mentioned control systems and is a TRUE open source machine control project. This means it is limited only by the grey matter between your ears. For me, THIS is the primary attribute that is the tipping point and for me, this is the LIMITING factor of LinuxCNC. :) I hope my diatribe is helpful. thanks Stuart > Mark > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This SF email is sponsosred by: > Try Windows Azure free for 90 days Click Here > http://p.sf.net/sfu/sfd2d-msazure > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- dos centavos ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF email is sponsosred by: Try Windows Azure free for 90 days Click Here http://p.sf.net/sfu/sfd2d-msazure _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
