Asserations

[matthew_heusser at mcgraw-hill.com]

Ben Carlson Wrote:

>The statement below you claimed that I posted that I said Red Hat was a
>profitable company that shrink wraps and sells open source.  That is totally
>incorrect of what I said in the email.

No, Ben, you didn't say that.

Joe Harnish did.

I didn't quote you, because your argument was a bit different, and would
take us in yet another direction, and, believe it or not, I do like to do work
occasionally.  :-)

Ben Also asked:
>How can a company that makes free software
>make a profit on selling free software?

Netscape and RedHat both tried to shrink wrap and sell thier software,
along with tutorials, "special editions", books, etc.  IMHO, this was designed
to penetrate the I-won't-install-software-unless-it-comes-in-a-box crowd.

And, while that may have earned them a bit of market share, it just wasn't
profitable.

For the record, I agree, a services model for RedHat  IS a better model.
Tom Christensen & Co has been making a go of it for quite some time,
and they ARE profitable.

Matt H.