On Wed, Jul 18, 2001 at 12:38:29PM -0600, Chris Cameron wrote:
I think people who use proprietary software systems are just
accustomed to being gouged by ridiculous software costs.
Not to mention that it also costs us more to accomodate them.
Basically, distorting the argument a little, you could be saying
"Our proprietary software customers make us more money because
their platforms require far more support, and we make them
pay dearly for it".
If that works for you, great. Personally, you couldn't pay me
enough to maintain proprietary systems. :)
I'm sorry to say that your experiences do not coincide with
mine. We've seen cheapskates of all flavors and colors.
Also, just what are your clients doing dictating the software
platform you should be using? You're the technical consultant,
you should be choosing the platform!
In my experience, customers don't ask for applications developed
on free software. They just ask for applications. The fact that
they're developed using free software matters not one bit to them.
-MB
> I'm sure if done right, MySQL could do whatever you want satisfactorily.
> Same with MS SQL (ignoring cost).
>
> However, something few people seem to know, but I've realized from
> experience is that when you offer people services based off free
> software, you get a different kind of customer. And not the good kind.
>
> Where I work (http://www.advantcomp.com (free plug!)) we offer both
> Windows and UNIX (usually OpenBSD) solutions. When people come to us
> looking for something to be done in free unix (Linux, OpenBSD, PHP,
> MySQL, etc), they expect to pay crappy prices. And frankly they're
> crappy clients. They don't know what they want, they're only available
> to talk after hours, etc. While there are a few people who are looking
> for serious applications done in free software, they are few and far
> between.
>
> On the other side of the coin is people looking for "enterprise
> solutions". These are people expecting to pay a lot, so they give you a
> lot. These people usually look for MS SQL/ColdFusion sort of deal. The
> Windows side of our company gets -WAY- more money than the free-UNIX
> side.
>
> So if you're looking to make money, and have some capital to burn to
> start, I'd say use non-free software. That can be UNIX still, but not
> free-unix. Sybase, DB2 or Oracle for a database, and JSP seem to be the
> only "enterprise" solutions around for UNIX. But judging by your
> question you don't seem to be stuck with UNIX for a platform.
>
> If you're going NT I'd be careful with Microsoft software. IIS and MS
--
Michael Bacarella <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Technical Staff / System Development,
New York Connect.Net, Ltd.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Before posting, please check:
http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual)
http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive)
To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
