On Fri, Sep 12, 2003 at 07:49:30AM -0700, Rolf Pedersen wrote:
>
> Do you even use Mandrake?
Yup, I have 9.1 on one of my machines. That's why I considered buying
9.2. MDK lost that sale.
> A product does not materialize out of thin
> air: it takes money for the people who produce it to live, no? What
> other products are you able to consume without recompense until you
> decide it comes up to your standards sufficiently to pay for it?
Reality check: That's called "free market". If the product on offer
doesn't suit my needs/interests/whatever, I don't buy it. Simple 101 of
marketing. That only gets me into trouble if there's no alternative -
which is not the case here.
> Some must pay for what many take for free, be it advertisers or Club
> members. I wonder what percentage of the complainers about the ads
> actually support Mandrake with cash versus the percentage who complain
> merely because they would rather take without being reminded of the
> obligation.
That's exactly my point: MDK has taken away the obligation by making
money of the download edition (nothing wrong with that) *and* making
extra money besides the purchase price of the boxed version. Hence, my
motivation to buy the boxed version is gone. Or, to put into other
words: If MDK feels the need of forcing ads on paying customers, I
have no interest in supporting them anymore.
I do feel that I put my point poorly yesterday. I'm actually
frustrated. I'm a long time RH user (since 4.1, i.e. 1996/97) and in
that time, there still was "spirit" in them. By now, I never went
beyond RH 7.3, as I don't like current developments, so I went looking
for alternatives. MDK seemed interesting, not only because of a good
product, but also because of the setup (Club etc., though most likely
I won't need it). On the other hand, I don't go round spending money
to "support" companies without observing what's going on for a while.
Pity, that MDK spoiled it right away with their announcement.
Cheerio,
Thomas
--
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Thomas Ribbrock http://www.ribbrock.org
"You have to live on the edge of reality - to make your dreams come true!"
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Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
