Re: [SLE] Request: rebuild of Suse 10.1 ISO after revision of online update

On Thu, 7 Sep 2006 06:55 pm, John Andersen wrote:
After Thursday 07 September 2006 00:42,
Michael James changed what he wrote:
I think this suggestion will slow sales significantly.

The existing model comes close to incorporating both our ideas.
Go through the Alpha releases, then the Betas.
Get some downloadable release candidates out.
(ISOs and Install Source) Let lots of early adopters test.

When it goes gold,
update the Install Source to GM and press DVDs
but give the boxes a fortnight's head start
over the downloadable ISOs.
Create the Airmail edition.


Sales need to compete with downloads for early access.

Yes, that model has been wildly successful for OpenSuse,
Red Hat and all others that have tried it, hasn't it!?

I stand by this point, based on the highly significant
statistical sample of 1 (me) it did work. When the box
was the quickest way of getting the new release I bought it.
(Speed, convenience + warm fuzzies)

When the box stopped being the quickest way, I stopped.

When the box doesn't even contain the complete package list
from the install source, nor an important manual, Woah,
This is not profiting anybody.

Juxtaposing what you and I have said:
Novell need to have a hard think about what the boxed sets offer.
The boxed set sales have ALREADY disappeared
with the nearly instantaneous availability of download ISOs.
Sounds like we actually agree here.

My testbed machine might run a download,
but servers in my business and my customer's bussinesses
would have the boxed set sitting there on the shelf.
I wouldn't install the (possibly) buggy first download,
knowing that the clean boxed set would arrive
with in a couple months.

Q: What's in a name? A: Everything!
Call the downloads Betas or Preliminary RCs
and give the boxed set the chance to be the first GM
and we are in complete agreement.


When they first took over SuSE
they were staggered at the boxed sales.

You know this HOW?

Novell toured some of the German SuSE team to Australia.
We were asking about the cultural differences
that had to be overcome to bring Novell across to a F/OSS model.
They told how, when the Novell exec first saw the order for
SuSE 9.2? pressings, he crossed 2 zeros off as "an obvious typo".
No, the SuSE side told him, we will clear that many copies.

If they thought the boxed sales were "staggering"
why would they kill it off the first chance they got?

Ummm " ... cultural differences that had to be overcome
to bring Novell across to a F/OSS model" ?

--
Michael James michael.james@xxxxxxxx
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you always get less than you hoped.
Unless you pay nothing, then you get more.

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