At 06:57 AM 4/26/99 -0700, you wrote:
>> LOL, and I guess Microsoft and Adobe and all the other companies
>> that dont provide source have "limited business models" too. Is that right,
>> Mr. Harvard Graduate?
>
> Ah, but they do... To selected markets and/or for a price.
We've provided source "at a price" to a few companies. The problem is that
most *open source shops* dont have the assets to cover the damages in the
case of a breach. Doing a NDA with a company worth less than 10 million
dollars makes it meaningless. Plus *open source* implies free, and the vast
majority of companies in this business do not provide source if they write
their own drivers.
>
>> Why should someone pay us $495? Very simple. First, they will spend
>> thousands of dollars worth of time trying to get the linux stuff to work,
>> only to find out it doesnt meet the demand. Add up the time to scour the
>> internet to gather the docs and code, hours of configuration and days of
>> testing and trying to figure out why their box pigs out under load. Even if
>> they decide to use it, then they have to deal with MRTG, another couple of
>> days. Busy ISPs dont have that kind of time.
>
> And you alone were able to do this? And to recover your
> costs at such a low price! Something that no one else can
> hope to acheive! For open source shops, its worth the
> time and effort to try.
> Is your market penetration so vast that you can afford to
> take this tone? Apparently so. And I wish you well.
> You certainly don't need my money.
No I dont.
The *open source* market is a tiny fraction of the total market, and in
terms of dollars, an even smaller fraction. The bottom line is that we dont
EXPECT to sell to you guys anyway, so there is nothing to lose. We target
ISPs and large companies for whom $495. is nothing even if it provides
marginal functionaly. The cost of hiring a linux guru to manage the
embedded stuff is much higher than that. Besides, 99% of the market
wouldnt know what to do with the source anyway. We provided partial source
for a long time and I cant remember 1 time that a customer found a bug for
us. It was a waste of our time to maintain it.
Business school 101: you cant satisfy everyone, and if you try the result
will be mediocre.
Dennis
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