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From: dinah@lgc.com (Dinah McNutt)
Newsgroups: alt.sys.sun,comp.org.sug
Subject: Re: Sun User's Group & COPS
Keywords: $$
Message-ID: <1991May17.221435.1492@lgc.com>
Date: 17 May 91 22:14:35 GMT
References: <25429@as0c.sei.cmu.edu> <1991May14.234340.15041@menudo.uh.edu> <1991May15.145403.22000@casbah.acns.nwu.edu> <6296@trantor.harris-atd.com>
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In article <6296@trantor.harris-atd.com>, chuck@pluto.Harris-ATD.com
(Chuck Musciano) writes:
|> 
|>      I didn't catch the whole thread, but I am concerned about the high cost
|> of the SUG CD.  I contributed several tools to it, and I like the publicity
|> it brings me and Harris, my employee.  I would like to see the CD reach as 
|> many people as possible.

I do as well. And thanks for allowing us to distribute your software. You have
written many valuable programs. The price was set before I was elected to the
board, but I believe the price was set according to what we thought it would
cost ($20,000 and rising :-), what we had charged for the SUG tape in the past,
and probably, what we thought the market would bear. This will definitely be
considered each and every time we do a project. We have no history with a CD,
so next year we will be able to make a more educated decision.


|>      As SUG members, can't we see our books, and see how much it cost
to make
|> the CD versus how much revenue was garnered?  If the money is put to
good use,
|> I think earning a small profit is fine.  I'd like to see the CD cost around
|> $50 or so, or even less, depending on volume.  I have a hard time believing
|> the CD cost more than $100,000 to produce.  You'd only have to sell 2,000
|> at $50 a pop to break even.
|> 

Chuck, there is no good answer to this. We think there is a large enough 
audience for the CD that the $250 is not a problem. I worked for a major
oil company for several years w/o Internet access and something like this
would be quite welcome. In fact, we would spend the $$ for the MIT X tapes,
gnu software, etc. each year and this is cheaper. There are many SUG members
 like this who cannot even participate in this discussion because corporate 
policy does not allow them to have News access. I know this not a satisfactory 
answer, but we are listening.

SUG is also on a tight budget and we cannot afford too many experimental
projects that would loose money. Our books need to be made more public and
the Boston office is spending quite a bit of time working on financial
reports. For historical reasons, our reporting mechanisms have been less
than satisfactory. Maybe on of the board members with more tenure can comment.

|>      Does the Houston LUG get paid for their work?  Were other LUGs allowed
|> to bid the job?  What is the estimated production cost and sales?  
|> 

The Houston group is not getting paid for their work. Other LUGs are encouraged
to head up the effort next year. (In fact, see the next README for a challenge
from the Houston LUG to do thise very thing!) I personally have had to take
time away from consulting activities (which pay money!) to work on this project
and other members have done the same.

I hope I have helped and not muddied the waters further.

Dinah McNutt         		                 
internet: dinah@bcm.tmc.edu | dinah@sug.org | dinah@expert.com