[Technical] Software Support

[Con Zymaris]

On Sun, Feb 26, 2006 at 08:33:48AM +1100, Donna Benjamin wrote:
> Picking up from the Audacity thread on the IPM list...
> 
> - What does having 'commercial support' for software entail?
> 
> - Do you ring Microsoft or Adobe when you have trouble with their
> software? Or do you ring the reseller who sold it to you?

>From my experience, few users call the software publisher, such as
Microsoft, for support - the costs are too great. They instead rely on
semi-formal and informal support structures and keep their fingers
crossed.

But that doesn't stop those same users from making comments like "we can't 
adopt open source because it's not supported', even though in essence 
they're adopting the same support methodology for their proprietary 
procurement tendencies as they would if they adopted open source products.


Cheers,

Con Zymaris

- CEO, Cybersource Pty. Ltd.
- Director, Open Source Industry Australia, Limited.
- Convenor, Open Source Victoria (A Government-funded industry cluster.)

-- 
___________________________________________________________________________
Con Zymaris <conz at cyber.com.au> Level 4, 10 Queen St, Melbourne, Australia 
Cybersource: Australia's Leading Linux and Open Source Solutions Company 
Web: http://www.cyber.com.au/  Phone: 03 9621 2377   Fax: 03 9621 2477