"Timothy R. Butler" wrote:
So, overall SuSE 7.0 adds a DVD (a cheap piece of plastic), and some more support, and now costs 30 bucks more? Before I go on, I should ask, was Chumbo one of the
"some support". Do you know how much it costs us?! By the way, the magic word is "Update Edition". I mentioned it countless times today, on this very list...
retailers that sold 6.x for $20-$30, or where they always more? I have to admit $54 sounds like a lot of money for a minor upgrade, and yet it is nice to get the manual. Seems to me, you'd manage just as well with a shorter support period and the manual (like it is now) than longer support period and no-manual (like the upgrade version). While I really like SuSE, but with the heated competition from those such as Mandrake (which also offers a wide variety of packages in their Deluxe version), it seems SuSE has eliminated one of it's major distinctive - bargain basement pricing on a full good-as-it-gets distro. Since I started using Linux, I've seen RedHat and Caldera (along with newer distros) all switch to expensive pricing systems (which bring upgrading a Linux system close to the cost of Win 98 upgrade) - this certainly doesn't seem to be a good precedent.
Our Upgrade Edition will make sure that you do NOT need to pay more than now at this point.
It seems like the majority of those hear agree... I hope maybe SuSE will listen and consider releasing a version with the same support that 6.4 had - and the same price tag. I'd probably pass up the pro (and of course the pro-upgrade) and go for
The Update Edition...
the kind we've been using and enjoying. I don't want to sound like I'm nagging, it just seems like a "one step forward, two steps backward" kinda thing, especially placing a program that gets updated every three months (SuSE) in the same price range as one that comes out no more
No, just three times a year, not four times...
than once a year (Windows 9x/ME Upgrade Edition, which is also all developed in-house, along with compiled, vs. just being compiled in house, like a Linux distro).
That is a joke, right? Yes, By far most of development is done by people on the Internet. This is why you can get a full blown OS plus 1500 packages for $39 from a company that does not sell 100 million copies (Microsoft has economies of scale on its side). MS also has far, far fewer apps than we have! Still, the development effort for a Linux distribution is enormous. This includes that much of the stuff done ealier for free by volunteers is now done for lots of money paid by the Linux companies. Many of the glibc and kernel hackers, for example, work for a Linux company these days (and we got quite a few of them!).
Sorry... I quit ranting now. Don't mind me - I'll keep buying SuSE either way....
-- Michael Hasenstein http://www.suse.de/~mha/ SuSE Linux AG, Nuernberg (Germany) SuSE Inc., Oakland, California (US) -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq