Dan Karron@UCBVAX.BERKELEY.EDU (03/26/91)
> > I think that doing small things like this is one of the >reasons that so many people go out and buy SUN's regardless of the >technical prowess of the machines. So many software bit's and pieces >are available to make life easy/interesting. Every bit of software you >think might be useful doesn't require a trip to the post office / >department administrator (groan). > The above is, I think, the main reason NOT to charge a distribution fee and post via anon ftp software for IRIS machines. For us institutionalized folk, where people are much cheaper than machines, I have had to explain to my boss/administrator why I need a check request or purchase order for 50.00 or 100.00 for a piece of software like dbw (Documentors Workbench). Why do I need it, can I live without it ? Is a free copy available ? Why not get that ? What will it do for us ? My explanations never flew, and the only way I got a copy was to make certain I got the request in on the specs for a new machine. You see, the check writers are not the users, and my reasons look like excuses to my administrator were never taken seriously. The hassel of justification can kill small purchase orders. Computer software is a matter of details, an immense number of details. Each alone is so difficult to justify, but taken in sum, make the difference between a good system or a lousy machine. Explain that to your chief bean counter ! | karron@nyu.edu (e-mail alias ) Dan Karron, Research Associate | | Phone: 212 263 5210 Fax: 212 263 7190 New York University Medical Center | | 560 First Avenue Digital Pager <1> (212) 397 9330 | | New York, New York 10016 <2> 10896 <3> <your-number-here> |