Messages in this thread |  | | | Subject | Re: Linux (free s/w) support | | Date | Tue, 30 Sep 1997 09:45:10 -0400 | | From | Christopher Blizzard <> |
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In message <199709300019.KAA26697@plum.cyber.com.au>, Darren Reed is rumored to have said: :Free software is only supported if someone actually wants to support it. :Linux is just lucky there are enough people interested in it to fix most :of the problems. :
Actually I would say that Free software, and Linux in particular, is supported if you are willing to shell out the money for it.
:If I were a Sun customer, with a support agreement/contract, I could say :to them "there's this rsh-ioctl problem and I need a fix" and if they don't :then they've got have a good reason why not. They may even supply me with :a "test-patch" (which don't get released to the general public). Basically :they answer to customer demand and posting things to bugtraq is not the same :as a customer with a problem logging a support call. :
Ok. If you have a support problem with a Linux vendor then there's no reason why this wouldn't apply either.
:If I have a prlbem with Linux, I have no _guarantee_ that anyone will look at :it, never mind actually solve it. If it's a priority 1 problem for me and :I receive no support from the Linux camp, how good does it sound to explain :to management "I posted the problem a week ago, but no response." ? It's :the guarantee of some sort of support service which management need. ie. :they can yell at someone else and get a head kicked if nothing happens. :Who's going to do that for Linux ? :
There is a guarantee if you're paying for support. There are a growing number of companies that are doing this.
--Chris
------------ Christopher Blizzard AppliedTheory Communications, Inc. http://odin.appliedtheory.com/ blizzard@appliedtheory.com ------------
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