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From: argv@turnpike.Eng.Sun.COM (Dan Heller)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.mush
Subject: Re: X or Xview version of Mush
Message-ID: <7593@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 7 Feb 91 21:52:52 GMT
References: <1991Jan27.095612.9014@brolga.cc.uq.oz.au> <1991Jan29.044604.14153@brolga.cc.uq.oz.au> <91037.133433QQ11@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK>
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Organization: O'Reilly && Associates
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In article <91037.133433QQ11@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK> QQ11@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK (Alan Thew) writes:
> Sorry if this issue has been flogged to death but I seem to have missed
> it. While I understand that Dan has a business to run and his product
> comes first, what are the likely 'support' implications for the version
> that is currently available ?

Bart and I view mush as an important and significant product that can
help us leverage the sale of zipmail (which is being renamed to "zmail").
It is virtually a "demo" product that is far enough ahead of Elm and
Mail that people familiar with those products can appreciate it.  Once
Mush is understood, people will more easily see the stepping stone to
Zmail.  It is completely backwards compatible with mush, as mush was
to Mail and mailtool at one time, but zmail now introduces multiple
and simultaneous folder access, shell functions, an X interface, a
stronger scripting language as well as support for multimedia and other
mail transport protocols.

Through the support of Mush users, we have been able to start this
new business but we don't want to leave you all behind.  We want to
remain to be the focal point for mush so it doesn't turn into what
happened to Elm when it became a "committee-maintained" product.

> I have to admit that although I prefer mush, the competition (i.e. elm)
> looks to have a better/more secure future as regards versions that I
> can get for nothing (note that I DID NOT say 'free' or 'PD').

The reason for Elm's strnegth is that HP is pushing it very hard and
that's a commendable force.  They show it a trade shows and give it
away to licensees.  "Email" is a checklist item for corporate america
and there aren't many options to choose from.  By diluting the market
with Elm, getting a more technologically advanced product like Zmail
into everyone's hands is going to be more difficult.  Elm's limited user
interface, configurability and feature set does not represent a threat
to mush or Zmail in the future.  We hope that through trade shows and
other marketing ploys, we will be able to proliferate zmail better and
let the marketplace decide.

> No flames please...just some informed comment preferred.
Thanx for bringing this up -- However, I would also like the public
to realize that Bart and I are in no control whatsoever to the
marketing and sales side of zmail-- we are strictly the engineering
half of a two-company effort.
--
dan
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O'Reilly && Associates   argv@sun.com / argv@ora.com
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