Unix for a 386.
Darryl Richman
darryl at ism780c.isc.com
Tue Aug 22 23:44:05 AEST 1989
In article <1792 at crdgw1.crd.ge.com> davidsen at crdos1.UUCP (bill davidsen) writes:
"In article <31830 at ism780c.isc.com> darryl at ism780c.UUCP (Darryl Richman) writes:
"| In article <7186 at megatest.UUCP> palowoda at megatest.UUCP (Bob Palowoda) writes:
"| " I really would like to express my displeasure to the marketing bozo's
"| " who ever came up with this idea of 1-2 user versions of UNIX.
"|
"| Talk to AT&T. This is their idea. We wouldn't have bothered with it
"| (I believe) if their lawyers hadn't decided to make us do it. It's
"| their scheme and their implementation.
"
" I doubt that AT&T "made you do it." You say they get a higher royalty
"for the unlimited version, why would they force you to offer a less
"expensive version?
AT&T offers two levels of licensing fees. The cheaper one is for 1-2
users. The more expensive one is for unlimited users. We (ISC), and
everyone else, want to provide the product at the best price we can.
The license fee represents a fixed cost in the product, and must be
passed on to the buyer. If we offer only an unlimited system, many
people who want a single user machine will buy a competitor's cheaper
product. If we sell only a 1-2 user product, it won't be sufficient
for many people's needs, and they'll go elsewhere. I reiterate--it's
AT&T's scheme, they made us do it, and, since we have a history of not
offering such a tiering, I believe that we would not have done it
otherwise.
" As far as I know every vendor who offers the 2 user version also
"offers the unlimited. Why do people think that there is something wrong
"with having the option of buying something less expensive?
There is nothing wrong with offering a cheaper version. AT&T believes
that their product is worth more when more people are using it. They
have effectively made everyone who resells their product toe that
line.
It is a hassle for us and for the users, however. I don't know if we
offer an upgrade path, but if we do, I'm sure we send out a whole new
system and ask you to do an upgrade installation, which will replace
most of your system files and require you to reconfigure the kernel to
your hardware. *That* is a hassle.
--Darryl Richman
--
Copyright (c) 1989 Darryl Richman The views expressed are the author's alone
darryl at ism780c.isc.com INTERACTIVE Systems Corp.-A Kodak Company
"For every problem, there is a solution that is simple, elegant, and wrong."
-- H. L. Mencken
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