On Sun, 10 Oct 93 19:00:11 -0700, tiemann@CYGNUS.COM wrote:
>     They had a column by Peter Lewis in the business section of the
>     Sunday NY Times called
> 
>     Free Technical Support: An endangered Species of Service.
> 
>     I think I'm going to write them a letter detailing that 
>     the only true form of support is source code, whereby you
>     have choice (instead of hope).
>
> I think this is silly.

I think you misunderstand him.  But then again, if you do, then it's
likely that the NYT readers also would.  A better phrasing is
probably in order.

> If no free software business provides good enough support for you,
> then perhaps there is a business opportunity for you.

Yes, precisely.  If source is available, you have the choice of
fixing it yourself or paying someone else to fix it.  If you're
lucky, there exists a support company that's experienced with the
code. But if you're using proprietary software, all you have is hope
that the owner of the source will find your bug significant and
worthy of fixing.

When you put it that way, it's amazing that companies use any
software without source...

-- 
-russ <nelson@crynwr.com> What canst *thou* say?
Crynwr Software           Crynwr Software sells packet driver support.
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