Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 12:44:04 +0000 From: Mark Ovens <marko@uk.radan.com> To: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Is there a reseller program? Message-ID: <36B99614.67D485A7@uk.radan.com> References: <199902041131.MAA05190@dorifer.heim3.tu-clausthal.de>
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Oliver Fromme wrote:
>
> Jordan K. Hubbard wrote in list.freebsd-advocacy:
> > > I agree. A nice box product looks like a "legitimate" product. At one point
> > > several years ago Walnut Creek was shipping just such a package for
> > > FreeBSD. I found several Barnes & Nobles in Chicago carrying this. Can't
> > > say what happened to it. Walnut Creek should bring back the box package to
> > > augment their product line. It should look like, (digging in my box of
> >
> > We fully plan to, and it's in production now.
>
> Great news!
>
> However, there's one thing which should be taken into
> consideration: FreeBSD needs more resellers outside the
> USA.
>
> I am from Germany, so I can only tell about the experiences
> that I made here; maybe (hopefully) the situation is better
> in other countries.
>
> Personally I'm on Walnut Creek's subscription plan, using a
> credit card. Believe it or not, I primarily bought that
> credit card for that sole purpose, because there is just no
> alternative to receive FreeBSD CD-ROMs within a reasonable
> amount of time after release.
>
Same here, I even upgraded the shipping to DHL 3-day at US$18 instead
of US$9, although 2.2.8 took a long time to arrive, after UK resellers
had it in stock. The main reason for the subscription + DHL with WC
was to get the CD's before the resellers. I thought that subscribers
were the first people new stuff was shipped to.
> Sure, there are a few resellers ("Lehmanns" comes to mind),
> but they're way behind the release schedule, and they don't
> offer subscriptions (as far as I could find out). When I
> looked for 2.2.8 in Lehmanns online catalogue in December,
> the latest release that I could find was 2.2.6 (and it was
> advertised as "new", if I recall correctly).
>
> Ordering directly from WC isn't possible for most folks here,
> due to lack of credit cards. The computing centre of the
> local university has a subscription for a Linux distribution
> ("SuSE"), but no FreeBSD subscription, even though there are
> more FreeBSD boxes than Linux boxes at the computing centre.
> The reason for that is that educational institutions are
> simply not allowed to order by credit card or any prepaid
> method (the only way is to pay AFTER receipt of the invoice,
> by wire transfer or similar). So I ended up copying the CD-
> ROMs that I ordered for myself privately. This is definitely
> not a very satisfying situation, for both of us.
>
> About presence in shops: Zero. I have never seen a shop, no
> matter how small or big, carrying any FreeBSD stuff. (Not to
> mention that most computer shop people don't even know what
> "FreeBSD" is, but that's a different story.)
>
There are several suppliers in the UK that keep up to date with
versions. DGC-NMS is one (http://www.dgs-nms.co.uk). Maybe it might be
easier for residents of Germany to order from the UK using methods
other than credit card than the US, given that we're both in the EU
(even though our stupid govt. didn't sign up for the Euro).
> I also wanted to order some of those FreeBSD stickers and logo
> plates from WC, to decorate some of the more prominently located
> machines, thus helping to advertise the OS. However, shipping
> cost of $9 nearly double the total cost, which doesn't make it
> very attractive.
>
We could definitely do with someone in Europe to stock FreeBSD
"accessories", T-shirts, polo shirts, case plates etc.
> Bottom line: If there was an easy way to order recent FreeBSD
> CD-ROM sets in Germany (and other FreeBSD products), it would
> improve FreeBSD's position here considerably.
>
> Just my 0.02 Euros.
>
> Regards
> Oliver
>
> (PS: The Reply-To is set back to the list, which I read. If
> you want to reply privately, please see my signature.)
>
> --
> Oliver Fromme, Leibnizstr. 18/61, 38678 Clausthal, Germany
> (Info: finger userinfo:olli@dorifer.heim3.tu-clausthal.de)
>
> "In jedem Stck Kohle wartet ein Diamant auf seine Geburt"
> (Terry Pratchett)
>
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--
FreeBSD - The Power To Serve http://www.freebsd.org
My Webpage http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~markov
_______________________________________________________________
Mark Ovens, CNC Apps Engineer, Radan Computational Ltd. Bath UK
CAD/CAM solutions for Sheetmetal Working Industry
mailto:marko@uk.radan.com http://www.radan.com
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