One important clarification to what N5SMQ included, below. Even the
"mighty M$" (pronounced "micro-dollar") totally abandons programs and OSes
after they're not worth the support headache.
You can't really compare support for programs and OSes, which is what was
done in the original question. OSes are kept alive as long as a
"significant client" still runs it; the rule is that all significant
clients are "heartily encouraged" to move to the latest-greatest. Programs
are abandoned much more easily based on business cost curves, even big
expensive ones. Try to get an update for J++, for example, which was a
very alive and in-development tool just eight months ago. Dropped like a
stone with no warning whatsoever, and no ongoing support. Or MS-DOS, "used
by literally millions of computers on secure networks
worldwide." Abandoned when Win95 was released. Or Windows 3.1, ditto.
You can't get an excellent product for nothing; somebody is paying the
price even if it's not you. Free programs are supported on the tiring
backs of unfortunate or hobbyist programmers, who will eventually drop
support. Been there.
If you want a well-supported program that continues to grow you should to
be willing to pay for it. My $0.02.
Mike N2VR
At 10:46 AM 12/19/00 -0500, Les Peters wrote:
>I was confused as well and decided to call Ron (K5DJ) yesterday and ask
>him how he plans on supporting 10.22B/C (i.e. bug fixes). Ron made it
>perfectly clear that for those who are happy with the current features and
>decide not to pay the yearly maintenance fee for upgrades / updates, he's
>not. I guess were on our own after the end of the year!
>
><SNIP!>
>
>N5SMQ@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Was there ever a reply to this post??? Or did I miss it??? N5SMQ
> >
> > <<<<<I'm confused. The below message talks about upDATES and upGRADES..
> > <<<<<Are "updates" going to be still part of the cost of the basic
> software?
> > <<<<<And "upgrades" subject to this new "yearly" fee?
> > <<<<<Even Microsoft gives you free upDATES caused by programming glitches
> > <<<<<and fixes.
> > <<<<<But Microsoft does charge for upGRADES.
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