[3273] in linux-net channel archive
Re: ET support for LINUX
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (lilo)
Mon Jun 17 21:53:14 1996
From: lilo <TaRDiS@mail.utexas.edu>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 17:50:43 -0500 (CDT)
To: Dennis <dennis@etinc.com>
cc: Linux Net Mailing List <linux-net@vger.rutgers.edu>
In-Reply-To: <199606171636.MAA01388@etinc.com>
On Mon, 17 Jun 1996, Dennis wrote:
> Guys who care about
> source more that what the product does for him is not the kind of customer
> we want. If it makes you feel powerful, then good for you. But your
> interpretation
> of your influence is way of base and highly laughable.
Actually, I tend to prefer source precisely because I'm a small customer as
a rule. The last shop where I was involved in buying a mainframe we bought
a *single* mainframe, a *used* IBM. All we had for leverage with IBM was a
service contract, which was no great shakes.
When I've had source code, I've usually been able to puzzle out a problem.
When you're not high up on your vendor's priority list because you made a
one-time purchase or because you don't buy 10,000 of the latest gimmick every
quarter, you'd better concentrate on getting as much support up front as you
can. Realistically, that usually means source code.
In a lot of cases, for a smaller customer the product does what you can make
it do, not what marketing told you it was going to do or what the
programmers could do for you if they ever returned your calls....
Not meaning to imply you neglect your customers, but there's a general case
here, and I suspect a lot of people on this list have observed it
first-hand. I certainly have.
lilo
