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On Sunday 02 June 2002 00:36 am, you wrote:
> RedHat will gladly charge you $1500 or so per server per year for
> support....That's not very free.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Jim Wildman, CISSP jim@rossberry.com
> http://www.rossberry.com
I don't know if it's "free" in the money sense, but it doesn't have to be.
It's free in the freedom sense. RMS used to charge $150 a tape for people get
a copy of EMACS, and the FSF charges an arm and a leg for its free software.
(see https://agia.fsf.org to be really suprised by the fees!) Oh, and that's
still without warranty.
I don't see a problem with charging for the service of keeping something
(that should already work) going, it's the American Way. ;-) There's a huge
market for car parts, if you want to take a reasonably parallel example. Your
car should work most of the time, but people still buy warranties and car
dealers still offer them, because both buyer and seller are aware that cars
can still break for various unpredictable reasons, and this is a measure of
protection for the buyer, and profit for the seller. Businesses want to be
able to call someone up and say, "This doesn't work, help me fix it." And
they know that, to some degree at least, you get what you pay for. If you're
paying someone for a service, you can demand that it be given at whatever
time you require it. If you aren't paying anyone, then you are on your own.
Russell
- --
Linux -- the OS for the Renaissance Man
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