[wellylug] Microsoft At WellyLUG last night.

[Cliff Pratt]

Grant McLean wrote:
> On Wed, 2005-07-13 at 09:39 +1200, Cliff Pratt wrote:
> 
>>David Murray wrote:
>>
>>>As for the LUGs, we know that Linux comfortably occupies
>>
>> > the high moral ground. We know that the GPL will keep our
>> > OS free. We have confidence that the future of Linux is
>> > bright and confident.
>>
>>Linux may, though that is debatable. DeadRat, Sooky, 
>>MadDriver and all the others that charge for "service" while 
>>providing none, do not.
> 
> So a company that pays developers, testers etc to work on
 > Open Source software is not providing a service?
>
> One part of the service is providing a steady stream of 
 > updated packages including bug fixes and security
 > fixes.  You might argue that much of this work just
 > involves integrating updates from the upstream package,
> but in many cases, those updates originated from paid Red
 > Hat employees.
> 
> I don't personally think that what Red Hat charges for
 > their Enterprise Linux product represents good value for
 > money but I certainly wouldn't claim that they 'provide
 > no service'.
> 
There are plenty of companies that pay developers and 
testers to work on OSS without feeling the need to gouge 
their users. True, this sometimes mean only that they just 
allow the software writers a little time and resources to 
support the writers software, but often companies provide 
other support, such as web site for software support.

Nothing justifies RedHat's actions of a few years ago of 
raising their prices to approximately ten times the price 
that it was before. RHES is a rip-off whichever way you look 
at it.

Debian provides a full-bloodied distribution, without the 
need for charging an arm and a leg for the privilege, AND 
the network of developers provide excellent support for 
their programs.

Cheers,

Cliff