Michael James <michael.james@csiro.au> [2003-03-27 15:25]:

The page I remember is not called an advance purchase, but a subscription, and doesn't include manuals.

Anyone else seen it??

No, but I'd buy a reasonably priced CD/DVD only version without any support in a heartbeat. I've purchased several Pro versions and find that I almost never use the paper manuals, and I never use the installation support. I live in the boondocks where no DSL or cable is available, so the ftp download is not an option. Even if it were, I'd be happy to pay a reasonable price for the convenience of having CDs/DVD. The cost of creating the manuals, packaging, shipping, and providing support, etc., has got to be large, and my bet is that a CD/DVD only version w/o support could be sold at an attractive price and still have a higher profit margin than the full retail package has. -rex -- "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

Bruce Marshall <bmarsh@bmarsh.com> [2003-03-27 16:21]:

On Thursday 27 March 2003 18:55 pm, rex wrote:

...

No, but I'd buy a reasonably priced CD/DVD only version without any support

Are you aware of the $49 price for an upgrade to PRO... without manuals...? At least there used to be an upgrade at that price.

Yes, but I don't see it now, and it's not an attractive price anyway. If the $49 upgrade were available, shipping would still be ~$10, resulting in a net price of ~$60 with no manuals. I can usually buy the full Pro package with manuals locally for $70 + tax. That's a no-brainer choice for me, but it's a loss to SuSE; the profit margin on the retail sale at $70 has to be much lower than the profit margin on the $49 upgrade with no manuals and no distribution chain involved. I'm not privy to the cost breakdown, but, IMO, SuSE is missing a chance to have a higher margin from the people who want the CDs/DVDs, but no paper manuals or support. At $49, most people will pay the extra for the manuals. -rex -- War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion throughout society those forces for uniformity; for passionate cooperation with the Government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense. --Randolph Bourne (1886-1918)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Thursday 27 March 2003 04:55 pm, rex wrote: - ---------snip----------

I'm not privy to the cost breakdown, but, IMO, SuSE is missing a chance to have a higher margin from the people who want the CDs/DVDs, but no paper manuals or support. At $49, most people will pay the extra for the manuals.

I agree, I usually buy 1 full professional version in each full point upgrade, (7.2, 8.1), and then try to stay updated through the internet. I appreciate the manuals, although I don't always get all the way through them and even if they occasionally fail me. The point is that I would probably be willing to purchase an upgrade dvd for around $20 if it could actually be used to upgrade a previous version, and I'd still purchase my regular full point upgrade w/ manuals for reference. As it is SuSE is losing the opportunity to get $40 to $60 out of me between full versions. Of course if they pull a dead rat and start calling each upgrade a full point then I reserve the right to change my mind. See ya - -- dh Don't shop at GoogleGear.com! -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE+g6cyBwgxlylUsJARAhKvAJ0QoqQkdmfut3cO1xjtRgYH2gOoIgCbBHeA RWVKrtaVNk0OKwXGCCdkrZ8= =qsHu -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Thursday 27 March 2003 17:11 pm, Michael James wrote:

On Thu, 27 Mar 2003 12:03 am, tim wrote:

...

http://www.suse.co.uk/uk/private/products/suse_linux/i386/82.html

Bottom right hand corner of the page.

Thanks Tim, but the fine print says, "UK only".

Any sale that includes the manuals is not going to work for me, because of the cost of air freight.

The page I remember is not called an advance purchase, but a subscription, and doesn't include manuals.

Anyone else seen it??

I don't know why my other letter didn't make it to the list, but I pre-ordered 8.2 about 5 days ago, I even just yesterday got an email back from SuSE telling me it'll be a while still before it ships out to me. Here's the address: <http://store.suse.com/dr/v2/ec_Main.Entry?SP=10007&SID=40017&CID=0&CUR=840&DSP=0&PGRP=0&CACHE_ID=0> It only *looks* like it says pre-order not until mid April, but believe me, you can pre-order. I'm here in the States too, so I know it works. John -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE+hGxbH5oDXyLKXKQRAskiAJkBFr5iQQlf48G2unKRp1VNNcKtXwCghDC0 MUy/PuPXof421LYm8EbCYn0= =ety2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

"Catimimi" <Catimimi@libertysurf.fr> writes:

They dispatch only to UK and Ireland. Do you know how I can do for France?

For past upgrades I would have suggested amazon.co.uk, but although they are listing the full 8.2 personal and Pro edition they are not (at the moment) listing the update.