Re: Linux (free s/w) support
Marty Leisner (leisner@sdsp.mc.xerox.com)
Wed, 1 Oct 1997 14:16:40 PDT
> 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.
>
> 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 ?
How much are you paying for support? I've never seen problems
fixed promptly unless its a problem for lots of poeple.
With free software, you can hire someone to fix the problem, or fix
it yourself. You don't get that from a commercial vendor of proprietary
software.
--
marty
leisner@sdsp.mc.xerox.com
The Feynman problem solving Algorithm
1) Write down the problem
2) Think real hard
3) Write down the answer
Murray Gel-mann in the NY Times