[snip a bunch of good points about corporate/lawyer-influenced sociology]

...

So I'm looking for a persuasive argument to present to those people who _do_ make such decisions and actions, to justify additional resources for testing on new-to-us platforms (SLES and the desktop SUSE) prior to each release of our products.

So you are seeking information that would be knowledge expected of sales personel in perhaps a cold call?

Possibly in the future (though that would not go over well on the list), but at present they'd have nothing to offer, would they? If anybody is using our stuff with SUSE, we don't seem to know about it, and they aren't proud to publicize it. More to the point, NOBODY of any consequence is admitting to using SUSE corporately, at least not that I've heard. Primarily I want to pique the interest of a couple of Product Managers and senior directors, who decide what we support, meaning that they decide how much testing is worth doing, and when is it worth hiring another body just so we can cover off a few more platform variants (not to mention allow for some extra time in tight schedules if a developer is needed to fix any incompatibility that happens to pop up). If I say "How about SUSE Linux; Novell owns 'em now, doesn't that lend some clout and credibility?", the answer would be: "Sue who?" or "Come back when you can name two Fortune 1000 companies that actually use this ... whad'dyacallit, susie. We think the claims of 'Number 2' are just corporate bumpf and wet-dreams from Novell, trying to make themselves look attractive for a buyout." Evangelizing kinda sucks when you don't quite belive it yourself. :-)

...

Kevin (paid for every SuSE release since 5.2 - anticipating 10.1)

IF you find any information on the purchasing of 10.1 I trust you would let the rest of us know , just after you order yours , of course ;-)

Well, I heard these rumors, see, that there'd be a boxed-set commercial release called just "SUSE Linux" (being the equivalent of the late, lamented SUSE Linux Pro) in "late April"... cutting ]it kinda close, aren't they... or maybe they weren't referring to 2006. By contrast, for 10.0, by this point, they'd already had my money via the 'pre-order' page on their website, and I had my 10.0 box in my sweaty paws while people on the list were still asking if it was really released yet. If there's a pre-order page for 10.1, it's very well hidden. Maybe this'll be the time I opt for OpenSuSE. But if I'm going to be downloading to install anyway, there's Kubuntu... anybody know if they provide working video, or do ya hafta dig up libdvdcss and codecs, etc.? Nah. I just bought the "SUSE Linux 10 Bible" - it'd be a shame to waste that. Besides, if I think it's an uphill battle to evangelize SUSE to the employer, then Kubuntu would be a real bear. Kevin (Note that I'm not evangelizing for any-flavor-Linux on our own office desktops - we gave that up when we were bought, and the IT dept was exterminated and replaced by impersonal robocrats at head office. Active Directory... shudder! A few of us are dual-booting. I keep flipping back to WinXP to read my mail and check calendar updates and use the version-control system and use the trouble-ticket/ issue-tracker, and use FrameMaker, and... and... to watch my MarineAquarium and DreamAquarium screensavers :-) The information contained in this electronic mail transmission may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected from disclosure. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer without copying or disclosing it.