🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan2.215318.18942@husc3.harvard.edu> zeleny@husc10.harvard.edu (Michael Zeleny) writes:
>FSF does not give away its CD-ROM or distribution tapes;
>but up until this time, it has been able to explain charging for them
>as "distribution fees"; with the introduction of the differential
>pricing scheme for individuals and businesses, this explanation no
>longer holds any water.

Actually, our original plan was to charge $500 for the CD-ROM plain and
simple.  But we realized that while this isn't unaffordable for most
companies, it is for most individuals.  We decided we'd rather get a
smaller amount from individuals than get nothing at all, so we chose to
charge individuals a smaller amount, namely $100.  (We also changed the
original $500 to $400 for businesses.)

Lots of organizations charge different rates for their services depending
on who you are.  For example, my personal consulting fees for nonprofit
organizations is about half of what I charge commercial ones, precisely
because nonprofits generally have less money (and also because I don't mind
working for less if it's for charitable purposes).  This isn't an uncommon
practice, and I don't think anyone argues that it's unfair.

Considering that buying an equivalent amount of software from us on
magnetic tape will cost around $1200 (which true for both individuals and
businesses), paying $400 for the CDROM even if you're an individual is
still a bargain.

We certainly don't bother to check whether an individual is buying the
CDROM for their company and getting reimbursed.  But I hope this won't
happen much (or at all), because we really need the money to keep
developing more software.  Nearly all of our revenue these days is from our
distribution service.