SCO and filePro

[Ron Kracht]

Fairlight wrote:
> When asked his whereabouts on Fri, Sep 21, 2007 at 07:58:57PM -0400,
> Ron Kracht took the fifth, drank it, and then slurred:
>   
>> The point was, as Ken indicated, that if you want a official statement 
>> of policy don't ask in an unofficial location.  I don't know if what was 
>> asked about has been considered. I would expect that any significant 
>> number of inquires about this would have an effect on the decision if 
>> one has not yet been made. I'd also expect any policy change to be 
>> announced in the filePro Forum.
>>     
>
> And -my- point is that the official statement of policy should be up-front
> on the web site at a minimum.  A really proactive company would actually
> keep their community informed of policies revolving around current events
> affecting their products, as well.  Nothing like reassuring your user-base.
> It's absurd that at least two people in management are subbed to this list,
> and yet when someone asks a question, suddenly nobody can make an official
> statement.  Apparently the subordinates don't have the authority, and
> management mysteriously falls comatose.  That's some great PR, lemme
> tellya.
>   

Let's see - how many companies have made official pronouncements about 
changes in the cost of switching licenses for their products from SCO to 
another platform since SCO's announcement?  I have seen exactly none.  
But we are damned for not prominently announcing on our web site that 
there has been no change in policy. If you consider that a reasonable 
argument I'm not sure much discussion is possible.

> As for the forum...last I looked there were what, maybe 5-20 actual active
> regular users.  I check in now and then and it's like a ghost town.  You
> have just under 300 here last count I had.  You tell me which is going to
> yield broader dissemination of critical information.
>   
You don't have to be an active user to check there for official 
announcements.  Many of the companies whose commercial products I use 
will make major product  announcements on their web sites and announce 
other changes in policy (when they do) in official forums - often in 
response to user inquiries.  It's also not unusual for there to be user 
supported forums that are more active than the official forums. It's 
also common behavior for official notices to make their way to the user 
forums when a participant posts information that was released on the 
official forum. 

>   
>> fPtech management has also been clear that they are willing to add 
>> features that would otherwise not be added if someone is willing to pay 
>> for the development of that feature. 
>>     
>
> Yeah, I'm guessing that's where the whole biometrics thing came about.
> How's that workin' out for you folks?  :-/
>   
That is still to be determined. When you are willing to put up your 
money then you will have earned the right to make snide comments.



> I'm sure you do.  It brings in money.  I was actually thinking about this
>   
You don't have much experience running conferences if you think they 
bring in money- especially when you factor in the time required to setup 
the conference and prepare presentations.

> on and off for the last week as I debated spending the money to do the
> Flash-based attendance, but you folks have it backwards IMHO.  Everything
> I've seen come through marketing says how much you have to pay to make a
> presentation at the conference.  You -do- realise usually conferences work
>   
I don't think you have seen a single word from conference marketing 
about paying to make a presentation at the conference. That's something 
I'd like to see you document.

> And I've talked to Bud directly, privately before.  I came away feeling
> like it did absolutely nothing but waste the better part of an evening.
>   
That's interesting.  I know a number of people who have had the exact 
opposite experience. You might think about whether your experience says 
more about you than it does about Bud.

Ron