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August 07, 2005
The cost of free
Somebody got a post up on Slashdot, where I almost never go anymore though I do scan the feed, linking to an article about schools in Indiana using Linspire, which is a commercial distro of Linux, GNU tools, OpenOffice, etc.
Huh? That's like Ubuntu, but costs a whole lot more. (And, I notice Edubuntu now, too.) What're they doing that for?
Support, perhaps:
Registered Users, Members, and Insiders can submit inquiries to Linspire Support personnel.Issues are submitted via an online support form. You will receive an immediate acknowledgment of your inquiry. Our Knowledge system will usually select and send some potential solutions to speed the resolution of your inquiry. These resolve most common issues, and sometimes more advanced ones.
But rest assured we won't leave you with only a "canned" automatic system response! Your inquiry will also receive prompt attention by a Linspire support professional whose goal is to respond to and resolve issues within three business days."
(Source: http://support.linspire.com/support_policy.php)
I guess if you're the person making The Big Decision, you want the comfort of knowing some kid just out of college working at Linspire will get back to you in three days after Googling for the answer and trying out a few things, rather than you having to explain to your boss or the people who elected you or whomever that you went Googling for it yourself and spent 3 days trying to find the answer.
Of course, the Edubuntu people won't sell you support. They just put their contact information on that front page. None of that anonymous "one throat to choke" factor. Obviously taxpayer money is better spent on the commercial product.
Posted by Mark at August 7, 2005 01:17 PM