Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 12:13:56 -0700 (MST) From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> To: steve@visint.co.uk (Stephen Roome) Cc: dennis@etinc.com, jkh@time.cdrom.com, narvi@haldjas.folklore.ee, nate@mt.sri.com, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Price of FreeBSD (was On Holy Wars...) Message-ID: <199704201913.MAA08315@phaeton.artisoft.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.91.970420043409.9411C-100000@bagpuss.visint.co.uk> from "Stephen Roome" at Apr 20, 97 04:34:35 am
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> > Ah, but the customer isnt always right...... > > This attitude is why I bought SDL, not etinc. --------------------- On "brand loyalty"... --------------------- This is not a diatribe against SDL... they have every right to compete in the market in which Dennis competes, and they are bound to get whateve share of the available business that they rigorously pursue and therefore deserve. However... I'd buy Dennis's stuff, if I didn't live in the armpit of US telecommunications, and could get service to connect to it for what it costs for those services in most other regions. Dennis has spent a significant amount of time supporting FreeBSD, and, truth be told, he's the one who developed and tested the market which SDL is now exploiting. I'd buy a card from Dennis for the same reason I'd buy a CDROM from Walnut Creek, instead of some other company with a cheaper (equivalenetly functional) knock-off: to reward those companies willing to venture into a technology market which I would like to see developed. As for "the customer is always right", in general, you should treat the customer as being right to maintain an ongoing business, so long as the customers wants do not interfere with their needs. I have lost a lot of consulting revenue on numerous occasions by telling people to keep a box of 3x5 cards next to their telephone. If I had stayed with "the customer is always right", I would have made money, but they would have a useless complex system for classifying "no-pays" who call in, the associated training costs to run the computer version of the 3x5 card file, the loss of service when the computer/power failed, etc., etc.. In the long run, I win, because I have a reputation for honesty and for meeting the customers needs (and their wants, if they don't conflict). And I get more business than I would have gotten without the resulting active, positive word-of-mouth. Dennis may grate on you, but he's in the same long-boat you are, and when it needed bailing, he was there, bailing with you, and now that the sea has calmed, everyone and their uncle is out here in their Zodiac's. I'll stay in the long-boat, thanks. Regards, Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.
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