-snip-
> I don't understand why someone would buy something when they need a feature
> that isn't supported, and then hope that it is. What would happen if we
> said "We've decided to never support NT, at all, period"? Not likely, but
> it's just an example. I see this everyday, people send email, some times
> angry email, asking for, or even demanding, we port pm* to SCO, or UNIXware,
> or BSDI, etc.. Because they absolutely must have it.
People buy OS's that support the majority of their needs. Then they
attempt to sway those company's products that aren't supported. You can't expect
someone to buy an OS just because Livingston supports it.
>
> I feel *no* sympathy. We don't claim to support them, we don't even claim
> that we will (We probably won't support SCO, and UNIXware is going away with
> Novell's reorg). It would be like me buying a compact car and then yelling
> at the dealer because I can't haul lumber around. We're open and honest
> about what we support, if someone says "I absolutely must have FreeBSD
> support or I can't buy your product", I'll say sorry, can't help you. It
> seems like some people figure they'll have more leverage if they buy first
> and then *demand* support.
This sounds to me as if you guys think that you are *that* good that
you don't have to offer support for other OS's. That your customers should switch
OS's to one that you do support. This is a dangerous attitude that
can backfire quickly. Right now business is so good for you guys
that you don't need to support other OS's. At some point in time
(maybe after the feared ISP shakedown), your sales will taper off or
level out. And I can bet that at that time, your marketing team will look
into offering support of other OS's.
> Got news for them, it doesn't make any difference, and you're not going to
> force a shift in the schedule just because you decide to take a risk. If
> anyone ran a business that way, it wouldn't be around very long.
I disagree, if enough of them bought that OS, your programmers would
be scrambling to meet their needs. We're all here to make money and
making the majority of the people happy is the safest bet.
Livingston is currently doing this, but in this day and age, things
can change quickly. And if Microsoft wanted Livingston to support
its products, I imagine we would be seeing NT Radius here soon.
No one computer company can be so arrogant as to think that enough
people couldn't force a shift in the way you guys do business. (with
the exception of Microsoft).
-snip-
>
> This isn't directed at anyone in particular, I'm just taking this time to vent
> over something I see everyday. It confuses me, I would never make such a
> major investment without checking every angle first.
>
> -MZ
> --
> Livingston Enterprises Technical Support
> Phone: 800-458-9966 FAX: 510-426-8951
> support@livingston.com <http://www.livingston.com/>
> 6920 Koll Center Parkway #220, Pleasanton, CA 94566
I think that Livingston makes a great product and we will continue to
use them. But we certainly do not want to hear that we made a mistake
in our OS because it isn't supported by Livingston. Some would say
the opposite. That Livingston made a mistake by not supporting their
OS. Right now business is good and my portmasters work fine, so this
isn't much of an issue to me, just thought I would comment.
Sean
_______________________________________________________________________
Sean Rolinson Asst. Systems Administrator snowdog@charm.net
Charm Net Inc. Baltimore, DC, N. Va's Access to the Internet
(410) 558-3900 Voice (410) 558-3901 Fax email: info@charm.net
(410) 558-3300 Data (703) 790-5054 Data login: guest 'no pword'
http://www.charm.net/ Personal http://www.rolinson.org/~snowdog
_______________________________________________________________________