🚀 go-pugleaf

> >: >One hopes with all these "statistics" bantered about that they decide to
> >: >tend to their own backyard and make their own suite of applications a
> >: >powerful alternative instead of just an alternative.
> >
> >: And I sppose you'll want them to devote 10,000+ man-hours to the
> >: project, and you'll want IBM to give it away for free - thus running
> >: all the OS/2 app suite vendors out of business.
> >
> >: Then you'll complain that there aren't any apps.
> >
> >Why on earth do you say this?  Lotus have dragged their feet for
> 
> He knows about the marketplace...so do I...is isn't there....
> 
> If you don't mind David, tell us how many peoople registered your mine
> sweeper game for OS/2?  Got to be at least one person which was me...

I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here, because his message hasn't
arrived in my news server yet.  What I know of his message is what
you have quoted in yours.

In answer to you question, I got about 20 registrations in the first
year.  I got very few after that.  But you have to remember:
	1: I do not require anybody send me any money.  The request
	   is just that - a request.  Not a requirement.  It is a
	   free program.

	2: I have done no advertising.  I uploaded it to two FTP sites,
	   made one post to comp.os.os2.announce, and posted it to the
	   now defunct comp.binaries.os2 newsgroup.  And that's it.

	3: I have not updated it in two years.

	4: There is a competing MineSweeper program out there that
	   has multimedia sound, which mine does not have.

But that's not the point.  A cheap program that took me 10 hours to
write is not the same as a major office program that may take a year
to write.  If IBM undercuts the office app vendors (like Lotus,
StarDivision, and other) then they will lose whatever market they
have.  When the customer base is small, giving away major apps for
free effectively destroys any market for third-party apps.
 
> >years on OS/2 apps, and plan to drag them for a few more, and you
> >are *defending* them?  If they'd said from the beginning "We don't

Look at it from IBM's view.  Ever since 2.0 shipped, the user base
(at least those on the net) have spoken very loudly with one voice.
They have said that they want everything under the sun to be bundled
in one box, and they are not willing to pay for it.  But they are
willing to spend all their free time trying to destroy OS/2 if IBM
doesn't comply 100% to their unrealistic wishes.

And then when they do comply, are they satisfied?  No.  They just
create an even bigger list of stuff they want for free.  There is
nothing IBM can ever do to satisfy the insane mob that claims to
be OS/2's user base.  And I think they should stop trying - it is
obviously a waste of time - time that could be better spent making
the existing product faster and more reliable.

I'm amazed John Soyring (and the rest) hasn't gone postal after all
the years of abuse he's taken from his customers.

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David Charlap        | The contents of this message are not the opinions
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