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Thread View: bit.listserv.lsoft-announce
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1 total messages Started by Eric Thomas Sun, 11 Sep 1994 23:26
Reduced time to market for unix(R) ports; 4 new supported systems
#11
Author: Eric Thomas
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 1994 23:26
154 lines
8726 bytes
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In order to  avoid cross-posting, this announcement is being  posted to a
special  mailing  list generated  from  the  combined membership  of  the
following lists:

           LSOFT-ANNOUNCE LSTOWN-L LSTSRV-L LSTSRV-M LSTSRV-E

This mailing  list is for announcements  only. If you want  to comment on
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the announcement itself, please write to SUPPORT@LSOFT.COM. Thank you!

If  you received  multiple  copies  of this  message,  it  means you  are
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      NEW PRICE GROUPS AND SERVICE CATEGORY REDUCE TIME TO MARKET;
                   FOUR NEW SUPPORTED UNIX(R) SYSTEMS

                          September 12th, 1994

* L-Soft International,  Inc. ("L-Soft")  introduces price group  C-1 and
  service category II-B, allowing support  for unix(R) systems not in the
  "top 5" list to be introduced in a very short time frame.

* HP-UX  and  Irix(R) are  now  supported  under  price group  C-1,  with
  immediate availability.

* Support for SCO(R)  unix(R), Linux and others to follow  upon the first
  customer requests.

* New price groups  A-X and B-X expedite the availability  of support for
  certain  popular unix(R)  brands. Products  in groups  A-X and  B-X are
  priced as per  groups A and B, respectively, but  with service category
  II-B, and will eventually be reclassified under group A or B.

* OSF/1(R) and Solaris are now  formally supported under price groups A-X
  and B-X,  respectively, with immediate  availability, for a total  of 8
  supported unix(R) systems.

* Package offers valid  for group A only are  now automatically available
  for group A-X  as well; offers valid  for groups A and B  now extend to
  groups A-X and  B-X as well. The deadlines for  selected package offers
  will be extended to allow users  of the four newly supported systems to
  purchase at the introductory rates.

**************************************************
* Updated price group table for unix(R) products *
**************************************************

  Group A:   AIX(R) for RS/6000, SunOS 4.1 (sun4), BSDi
  Group A-X: OSF/1(R) for AXP(TM)

  Group B:   Ultrix(TM) for RISC
  Group B-X: Solaris (sun4)

  Group C-1: HP-UX, Irix(R)
  Group C-2: -

Contact SALES@LSOFT.COM for current pricing information.

**************************
* Background information *
**************************

In  order  to reflect  actual  support  costs, maintenance  for  L-Soft's
unix(R) offerings is priced according  to a "price group" classification,
where the "mainstream" unix(R) brands are classified under "Group A", the
"contenders" fall under  "Group B", and the more "exotic"  systems are in
"Group C".  Occasionally, we adjust  the group ratings to  compensate for
circumstances affecting our support costs, such as the much lower cost of
ownership of PC-based unix(R) systems.

Traditionally, the main obstacle to the expansion of our unix(R) coverage
has been  the fixed cost  of either  purchasing a development  system, or
procuring  dependable,  guaranteed access  to  one.  Unlike some  of  our
competitors, we provide support and maintenance, rather than a simple 'as
is' license with  no warranty. Because we are agreeing  in writing to try
and fix problems  as they are reported, we need  a written assurance that
we  will have  the  means to  do  so  (or, of  course,  our own  in-house
development system).  For the more  exotic systems, purchasing  a $15-20k
development  system  is not  an  option  and,  thus  far, it  has  proved
difficult to  obtain guarantees in  writing for access  to customer-owned
systems.

************************
* New service category *
************************

To expedite the  availability of support for systems with  a lower market
share, we are introducing a new  "service category", known as II-B in our
updated maintenance agreement (GA-9408-2). This new category is identical
to the current "category II" (now  renamed to II-A, to avoid confusions),
with the  additional requirement that  the customer must provide  us with
free and  suitable access to the  machine on which the  software is being
used, for  the limited purposes  of compiling, maintaining  and otherwise
working on the software. Note that  we do not need root privileges. There
is no penalty for closing off our  access, other than losing the right to
receive service. We  have found that most customers have  no problem with
this   requirement,  as   their   lawyers  are   mostly  concerned   with
consequential damages.  Since each  customer under service  category II-B
agrees  to provide  us  with access  to  a system  that  is suitable  for
servicing  the product,  we do  not depend  on any  particular customer's
goodwill, and  do not need  to assess  consequential damages in  case our
access is terminated.

In practice, we will  only use this clause as a  backup. We will continue
to make private  agreements with selected customers, trading  access to a
comfortable,  conveniently located  development  system for  a rebate  on
maintenance charges. The  use of service category II-B  simply means that
we can guarantee  the continued availability of service  for the product,
even in the absence of a formal guarantee from our service providers.

We use price  groups A-X and B-X  in cases where we expect  to purchase a
development system  in the long  run, but  want to introduce  support for
that system  immediately. For instance, all  but a handful of  our Sun(R)
customers run  SunOS. While we  expect that Solaris usage  will increase,
the current number of licenses does not warrant the purchase of a Solaris
system. The  use of  price group  B-X allows us  to release  the software
immediately, and without having to add  a surcharge for the purchase of a
development system used to support only a handful of customers.

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L-Soft International, Inc. does not endorse  or approve the use of any of
the product names or trademarks appearing in this document.

For  more  information  about  this  or  other  announcements,  write  to
SALES@LSOFT.COM, or call us at +1 (301) 942-8886.

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L-SOFT is a trademark of L-Soft international.

Unix is a registered trademark of UNIX Systems Laboratories, Inc.

AIX is a registered trademark of International Business Machines
Corporation.

Alpha AXP and Ultrix are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.

OSF/1 is a registered trademark of Open Software Foundation, Inc.

HP is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.

Sun is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.

IRIX is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc.

SCO is a registered trademark of The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.

All other trademarks, both marked and not marked, are the property of
their respective owners.
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