Re: SEUL: Partitioning

[Thomas Molesworth <thomas@bass.almac.co.uk>]

On Mon, 30 Jun 1997, Erik Walthinsen wrote:

--cut--
> True, but remember that the users of a trial install will probably be those 
> like that idiot Times writer who got the CD with his magazine. (the Times guy 
> went on to slander everyone in all technical fields)

I never did read this Times article; is it available on the internet
anywhere?

> Our main user-base will be people who either buy a new computer with the 
> intent of putting SEUL on it, buy it with it pre-installed, or are so fed up 
> with M$ that they are just toing to switch.  Trial installs will be done by 
> only a few people with the time/patience to spare, and those people are few 
> and far between.
> 
> In summary, I agree that a trial mode initially (perhaps always) will likely 
> be a waste of our time/resources.

I meant the loopback idea as an alternative install method rather than a
trial per se, but I agree that a crippled "trial" system would be a waste of
time - at least until _after_ SEUL v2.0 or thereabouts.

--cut--
(target user = Win95 moving to WinNT workstation)
> Quite true.  I haven't thought of that.  But is that really our target user?  
> It's kindof been decided (unofficially) that our target user is the "home 
> user", which puts competing with NT Workstation one step higher.  Our selling 
> point will be that SEUL, which is free, can give you better performance and 
> more features than WinNT, while replacing Win95.

Someone just tell me who the EU of SEUL is, and I'll be happy. Until then,
I'll keep coming up with whatever ideas I can. But hammer home the
crash-proof feature, the blindingly fast speed of Linux, and the wide range
of apps+servers available.

--cut--
> Exactamundo (sp?).  I personally would argue against making our target user 
> the "home user" for first release.  The home user is fickle and hard to sell 
> to, making our job harder.  If we release to commodity systems operating 
> out-of-the-box, both to savvy consumers and the corporate environment, we'll 
> build up a large user-base fairly quickly, and create market pressure to 
> "persuade" app providers to start building for Linux.

What's happening with linnet? Could someone on that list post a summary of
progress reached there?

> This brings up YAIP (yet another interesting point): where do we draw the line 
                 ^^^^-- I like this one
> on the free distrib?  I know we want to provide a complete operational system 
> for free, including Office-style apps, but where do commercial apps fit in?  
> If we follow the theme of killing M$, we would provide everything M$ provides 
> for free, and let companies, like Lotus and Borland, compete directly with us. 
>  This may be the wrong tactic, I dunno.

If we can write it for free, stick it in.
If not, put pointers in big letters everywhere saying where + how to get
commercial stuff.

YAIP: don't forget WINE.

--
Thomas Molesworth            (thomas@bass.almac.co.uk)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simple End User Linux Mailing list
To be removed from this mailing list send a message to majordomo@txcc.net
with the line
unsubscribe seul-project
in the body of the letter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------