Kragen Sitaker writes:
 > Russ Nelson wrote:
 > > What does matter is that the insurer will have to pay out on most
 > > policies he sells.  [. . . so selling insurance is not a viable model]
 > 
 > Bob Young responded:
 > > You are arguing points that are based on false assumptions.  Or maybe
 > > not false, maybe just irrelevant assumptions.
 > 
 > Russ Nelson responded:
 > > No assumptions here, just experience.  Been there, done that, telling
 > > fsb about it.
 > 
 > Do you mean you have sold insurance policies -- support-based or
 > otherwise -- to free software users?  I'm interested in hearing more
 > about the experiences from which you have drawn your conclusions.  

It's not so much that I was selling an insurance policy and calling it 
that.  It's more that I was selling support and pricing it like
insurance -- as if people were going to buy it and not use it.  Well,
actually, some of them didn't, but most of them did.  And the problem
with selling something for a fixed price in advance is that you have
to supply it whether you make money or not.

-- 
-russ nelson <sig@russnelson.com>  http://russnelson.com
Crynwr sells support for free software  | PGPok | Government schools are so
521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | bad that any rank amateur
Potsdam, NY 13676-3213  | +1 315 268 9201 FAX   | can outdo them. Homeschool!