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Xref: sserve comp.unix.misc:10565 comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit:5166 comp.unix.bsd:13108 comp.windows.x.i386unix:5892 biz.sco.general:9430 Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!news.Hawaii.Edu!ames!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uknet!demon!stonewall.demon.co.uk!nigel Newsgroups: comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.bsd,comp.windows.x.i386unix,biz.sco.general From: nigel@stonewall.demon.co.uk (Nigel Whitfield) Subject: Re: SCO market share References: <2efuku$4vj@rhombus.cs.jhu.edu> <9312142221.aa02201@fags.stonewall.demon.co.uk> <hastyCI38BF.1on@netcom.com> Organization: Jenny Agutter Fan Club Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1993 08:56:59 +0000 Message-ID: <9312170856.aa01663@fags.stonewall.demon.co.uk> Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 35 In article <hastyCI38BF.1on@netcom.com> hasty@netcom.com (Amancio Hasty Jr) writes: >We no longer support that version; better yet we no longer support >that product. Or, how about 4 week turn around to just tell you >that they receive your problem statement and yes they have given it >a lot of thought and will in the future get back to you. No. No bells rung there, thanks. If I got support like that, I'd tell people where to stick it and change to an OS where I could get sensible responses. How exactly would this be better if I had source code and an unsupported OS? Oh yes! My production editor could stop work in press week, post a query to the net and while they're waiting an indeterminate time for a response (assuming someone who know's what to do is reading) they can poke around in the C code to try and fix it themselves. Because, after all, every business that has a Unix system in the building has a C programmer, doesn't it? I can achieve the level of support with which I am confident for the applications that we are using, and that support can be accessed by anyone in the office when they need it. They don't need to be programmers, or Unix gurus. They just need to do their job, with the computers helping out. That's a commercial reality. It doesn't allow me to risk thousands of pounds hoping that the goodwill (and I know it's considerable) of people on the net will come up with a fix. Unfortunately, this support issue is one of the things that comes up again and again when people talk about free software. I know lots of it is great stuff, and wonderful for a lot of things, but there really are situations where it's not a realistic solution. Contrary to some of the mail I've received, I do know what I'm talking about when I decide what's right for my job. More willingness to accept that might see many people more kindly disposed towards free software. Nigel.