Re: looking at the survey (pricing)

[EAMorical@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/21/98 1:56:11 PM EST, arma@mit.edu writes:

>Ok...we should all go through the survey and take a look at the questions
>we have so far, and answer them. If we all end up answering them the same
>way, then we should consider that perhaps most people will answer them that
>way, and they're not all that useful. If we all answer them differently but
>are thinking the same thing, then we should conclude that it needs a reword
>(or to be dropped).
 
>Rating scale:
 
>Crucial: This issue is one of the most important things I consider in
> evaluating a computer system
>very important: This issue is very important to me in evaluating a computer
>  system
>important: This issue is important, but I am willing to compromise for more
>  important issues
>relevant: I consider this issue when I evaluate a computer system, when all
>  else appears equal
>unimportant: This issue is not relevant for/to me
 
 
 
>Hope to figure out from either question, either
>- What does this tell us about the respondant?
>- How can Linux be improved by the responses to this question?
 
 
>Pricing:
> - Cost of hardware for your computer, including initial purchase price and
>upgrades 
 
>very important. i look for excellent price/performance ratio, and purchase
>from small vendors.

important from a business perspective it's total cost of ownership. Two points
first a business buys a computer with pretax dollar whereas an individual buys
with after tax dollars. Big big difference. Second computer down costs real
money. Therefore paying for reliability is well worth while. 

>  - Cost of software for your computer, including cost of pre-installed
software 
 
>crucial -- they must be zero.

important as above money spent for higher productivity software pays off.
 
>  - Cost of software upgrades for your computer 
 
>crucial -- they must be zero.

important as above money spent for higher productivity software pays off.
 
>  - Cost of becoming proficient with new application software 
 
>woah. does this apply to me? This seems like a different use of the word
>cost' than the ones I just answered. I don't pay anything to learn new
>application software. Except time. In which case it is 'important' because
>I don't want to spend forever becoming proficient with something, but if
>it's worthwhile then I'll make it happen. Note that for the most part, I
>don't need to be 'proficient' with something to use it usefully.
>Perhaps we could clarify, and add "(time or money)" in there.

crucial for a business time is money. Direct relationship.
 
>  - Cost of becoming proficient with new system software 
 
>same problem as last time. but proficiency with system software is
>more important than with application software, so 'very important'.

crucial for a business time is money. Direct relationship.
 
>  - Being able to buy and / or use no-name brand hardware obtained from a
>reputable retailer 
 
>I'm assuming this should be interpreted as "no name brand", rather than
>"no-name" "brand", which doesn't make sense to me. If the former, then
>'relevant' (see below).

unimportant only use brand name hardware
 
>  - Being able to buy and / or use brand name hardware 
 
>crucial. With what I use my computers for, I need top-quality high-warrantee
>parts. Perhaps put the 'brand' question first..

very important we generally buy top quality hardware Plextor CD-ROM.
Quantum hard drives. However both CPUs are AMD.
 
>  - Being able to buy and / or use no-name brand software obtained from a
>reputable retailer 
 
>I don't buy software. So the term 'retailer' seems weird to me in this
>question. But I guess I will interpret this as "how important is it for
>redhat to have a contrib/ directory that it makes available?"
>In which case I'd say 'relevant', because I don't mind if my off-brand
>software comes from the actual site in .se or from a more 'reputable'
>site.

unimportant only use brand name software.
 
>  - Being able to buy and / or use brand name software 
 
>crucial. Some software, like sendmail or apache, needs to be
>well-known and well-tested. Am I using the same definition of
>'brand name' as you guys are?

crucial have need for specific software. Could use software with same
functionally. However I've never seen any.

Bob