On 29-May-2003 Adam Bower wrote:
On Thu, May 29, 2003 at 11:14:58AM +0100, raph@panache.demon.co.uk wrote:
Speaking as a professional, not as a student, I think that ca. ?200 is reasonable when I think of how mucb time and effort it saves me. I need Linux and Windows booted up at all times. Without VMWare I have to have two machines running with a KVM switch between them. I share files with Samba, but I still cannot cut and paste between Linux and 'doze windows.
When I look at how many bits of "cheap" software we have at work, that cost around 200 quid and you add up how much has been spent on closed software over the companies lifetime I think asking for cash for software is a bit cheeky really. Especially as I have been trying to use support contracts for some of our commercial software the past two weeks with no success.
Taking a purely pragmatic view, if a piece of bought software, or a book, saves me a couple of hours then it has paid for itself. I can then throw it in the bin.
Support on cheap software would be nice, but it is expensive to provide. I'm afraid that ultimately there is no escape from economic reality :-(