On Wed, 2003-01-15 at 21:39, Miark wrote: > Despite today's date, he doesn't know what's going on with Mandrake's > bankruptcy. He complains about the low value of boxed Linux-Mandrake, > and say that Mandrake Club is useless and that votes mean nothing. > He's suggesting mutiny against Mandrake because it's a for-profit > organization.
Not only that, Miark...but more importantly he is suggesting that there be a fork of the Mandrake distro using of course Mandrake GPL'd distro packages and code. This is a very dangerous suggestion in the here and now, when the new Mandrake management team has not even had a chance to prove itself, it's direction, and it's attitude yet. In short, it seems premature and very disloyal, no matter what Ben Reser's claims to the contrary. I think Mandrakesoft should be given time to prove itself before somebody kicks them when they are down. It is an extremely poorly timed article which discredits itself with it's timing, no matter how good the negative points may be. Another point that I saw as completely off base from an entrepreneurial perspective was his scheme on pricing. To put it succinctly, it is completely backwards. If you undervalue your product's pricing, then it will be percieved as being of a lower value. If the product's pricing is higher, then it is percieved as being of higher value. Reser proposes lowering Mandrake's boxed set pricing even lower, even in the light of the financial situation of the company!!! Think about that, and while you do, consider the price of XP which is a far inferior product to Mandrake, and also consider that M$ is a profitable company making money off an inferior and defective version of spyware disguised as a half baked OS. Now then does it make sense to devalue your own honest, straightforward, robust and superior product?? This is the first mistake that young entrepreneurs make when starting their businesses. I've seen it happen nearly hundreds of times in startups; inexperienced startup peeps underpricing their stuff out of fear. If you underprice your stuff then your customers will undervalue your stuff. This not only applies to merchandise, but also to hourly labor; especially so in fact. You may not believe it but I just got off the phone six hours ago talking to a firm partner giving this very same advice cause they were making the very same mistakes. How are they doing? They are backsliding financially. And so will every other firm that makes this mistake; including mine. Seven years ago I learned the hard way. Anyway....Mandrake needs to keep their product priced at the level that it's worth, but within reach of the regular consumer. This to me means a compromise between the cost of some high priced winblows bullsh*t and the pocketbook of the middle class American. --LX -- 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같� Kernel 2.4.18-6mdk Mandrake Linux 8.2 Enlightenment 0.16.5-11mdk Evolution 1.0.2-5mdk Registered Linux User #268899 http://counter.li.org/ 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같�
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