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Now, can we do something about the other industry cartels?

Actually, right now, the largest online music distribution system is not run by a record company or a holding company.

It's run by a computer company, which to my knowledge doesn't own recording copyrights at ths time.

So is Napster, which used to be Roxio before they sold all their non-Napster products to Sonic. Real, Wal-Mart and Microsoft aren't exactly big record labels either -- more like software and retail.

Therefore, I don't get the argument that the present Internet music services aren't distributing independent music because they themselves own large quantities of content -- with the exception of Sony Connect, it's just not true, unless Wal-Mart has went out and bought some labels and I don't know about it.

How about pigment-challenged? Then you might get to park up front at Walman-Marcus.

I do not think a lot of the developers are going to take the time to answer a RFP in the depth that most software vendors or VARS would.

Open source people are not going to be paid for a "sale" were as the normal software vendors are competing for some money if they can make a sale.

He sends them a large bill - $15,000 - for his services, and someone in the Accounts Payable department says the bill is too expensive for what he did, and needs to be itemized. So he itemized his charges:

• Making chalk mark, $1.
• Knowing where to put mark, $14,999.

One can sell one's expertise in selecting software as much as one can sell one's expertise in creating it. Or one can sell other things. We sometimes miss this in our industry because it is extremely rare for someone other than the manufacturer of a software product to provide maintenance and support of it. But because a product is open source, a purchaser can find anyone who is capable of doing so to provide maintenance.

In about 50 miles I need to change the oil again in my 1998 Dodge Intrepid because it's been another 3,000 miles. I can do the work myself and perhaps save money, I can pay a third-party perhaps $12 to do it, or I can pay a little more, take it to a dealer of the car to do it. It's a commodity operation and I can get anyone I feel qualified to perform it.

With non-open-source you only have the last option when you need something done (if they even will do it; consider calling up Microsoft and asking for a customized change to Outlook. Better be prepared to either be a huge customer, pay a huge fee, or suck air). With open-source you can get your hands as dirty as you want or you can pay someone else if you don't feel competent (or your organization doesn't have the direct ability) to make the changes. You have choices.

An RFP has some type of reward (sale) possible to the winner for them to spend time on responding to it.

A RFP is a request for proposal - A proposal for what? A proposal is a first step toward a contract. A contract with who? Who will get paid? I do not think a RFP process will get you very far.

For an open source product the cost of the software will be zero.

What is the cost of water these days? I can get it for free from a water fountain, perhaps pay almost nothing for a quart of water out of the tap, perhaps pay $20 for a filter every couple of months if I don't like the taste of tap water, or perhaps pay anywhere from 50c to $3 for a bottle of it in a store. That does not ignore the fact that the original price of the water was probably in the neighborhood of 1/10 of 1c per gallon from a public utility or a municipal water district. For all intents and purposes the original price of the water might as well be considered 'free' yet that doesn't stop companies from making money 'selling' water that cost them next to nothing to obtain.

Perhaps the customer pays for having the supplier provide and deliver 20,000 CDs of the software to sites so everyone has a copy instead of clogging network usage downloading it from servers. Or pays for a customized installer where the original product didn't have one or it's too complicated. Or pays for special services to go with it, like paying not only for the software but having someone write documentation. Or train people in how to use it. Or train their technical staff in how to support it. Or doing the support themselves. Or that the customer pays the supplier for finding the precise package that best fits their needs because the supplier knows what products are better for their particular circumstances.

Support and maintenance I guess would be in-house.

Let's say the Sixth National Bank wants to stop paying for Microsoft Exchange as their mail server and client licenses for Microsoft Outlook. I offer to provide them with an equivalent functionality using a Linux box running QMail (let's say that they want a highly reliable e-mail system so that eliminates use of Sendmail) and include for the client end some Windows port of an open-source client or group of clients that originally ran on KDE or GNOME, for less money than it would cost to have one person at the bank to maintain it because the maintenance I can offer on an as-needed basis to several companies.

The bank has people who could do the work inhouse but they are better suited handling the stuff that is the bank's core expertise (handling checking accounts and the billing of outrageous fees on those checking accounts), and the bank can pay me to provide them with updates and added functionality without having to have people doing work that isn't part of their core competency, BUT with the additional advantage that since the product is open source if I decide to quit, they can find someone else to do it or they could do it themselves if they choose to do so.

What's left then is comparison of different capabilities. This becomes a request for comments now (RFC).

A suggestion change here. Maybe send a RFP to consulting firms on helping you with project(s). A selected firm could help in gathering requirements, research products, help in the installation and maintenance ... If you trying to spend money anyways. :)

Paul Robinson <Postmaster@paul.washington.dc.us>

you can buy it at wal-mart starting december 7th, but it's only win* version.
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