Mandrake 8.1 - The Sweetest Thing

[Deven Phillips]

Ladies And Gentlemen,

	Although I think intellectual discussions are a good thing, no one wins
if there is no mutual respect. Throwing insults and jibes will not
better prove your point. The best and easiest way to convince someone of
your opinion is to use logical arguments.

	I would appreciate it if people on this list would respect each other
and foster intellectual dicussions. Now, with that said, let's begin.

Wayne - You say that Caldera has the only viable business plan (At least
that how I understood your comments) with per-seat licensing. I have to
disagree. Over the last 5 years, the US is moving away from a
production/product sales economy into a services based economy. We are
selling services, people, time, and expertise. In truth, the profit
margin for services is a great deal higher that that of retail sales or
software licensing. Companies like RedHat are offering services and
consulting to their clients, and those markets will grow in response to
the number of users of Linux. As linux begins to spread throughout
enterprise organizations, the need to consultants and support services
will grow.

Warren - I disagree with your statement about donations for
MandrakeSoft. There is a MandrakeStore web site where Mandrake can be
purchased directly from MandrakeSoft. I usually buy my distro's from
there. I know that the store is wholly owned and operated by
MandrakeSoft. What you seem to fail to understand is that companies
never "donate" money except for tax write offs. Since MandrakeSoft is
not a charitable organization, they cannot get tax write-offs for
donations to MandrakeSoft. On the other hand, companies do purchase
software. If they purchase the Mandrake distribution from MandrakeStore,
we are still suppoprting the community projects like Bachs, Plex86, and
Prelude; but we are also able to place that into the corporate budget.

Dusty - I don't think that Wayne was trying to create FUD, but instead
dicussing the merits of various OpenSource business models. He probably
wanted a good discussion to spring up and hear opinions. Everyone is
entitled to an opinion, and is entitled to state that opinion. I
appreciate your devotion to OpenSource, but don't resort to intimidation
to change people's minds. That will drive people away from supporting
Linux/OpenSource.

I hope that I have not offended anyone, and is this is actually a load
of gibberish I apologize. My head is still swimming in alcohol from last
night, and I have no sense of what I just typed.

Deven Phillips, CISSP, LCA
Network Architect
Viata, Inc.