Re: [OS:N:] Quick Survey

[Colin Mattoon <cjm2 lewiston com>]

On Sun, 2002-09-29 at 10:42, Edward Cheadle wrote:<and I clipped>
> I don't find it hard to believe, but it is sad how
> intolerant people are--particularly people on this
> list The Redhat survey was clearly labeled as
> marketing information. It was not a subtle come on or
> an advertisement.
> 
I agree, but as a slightly off topic aside, I think a market survey is
more useful if it focuses on issues of "why I don't," rather than "why I
do," and "what's wrong" rather than "what's right." Eliminate the
negatives and they'll buy the product without as much need to accentuate
the positives.

I'm not affiliated with Red Hat, and I'm not an educator, but because my
wife is a teacher at a school with a budget stretched to the limit and
beyond, I occassionaly find myself acting as her defacto consultant,
after-hours helper, trouble shooter, IT grunt. 

There are many things I like about Red Hat, and although I use the brand
for certain things (and even buy the occassional boxed set, so that I
don't feel like a total free-loader -- but that's my hangup -- and I'm
not suggesting that others shouldn't use it entirely for free if they
want to), there are some compelling reasons I don't use Red Hat as my
primary Linux distribution. 

Because of the benefits I perceive in using Red Hat (more third party
support and compatible commercial applications -- as well as being the
closest thing we have to a standard Linux distribution) versus most
other distributions, coupled to a decent, albeit imperfect, package
management system, I'd like to be able to use Red Hat more than I do --
and a survey shouldn't overlook the opportunity to discover reasons why
the product isn't used at the same time it probes for "mind share" and
public perception.

Later,
Colin Mattoon