RE: [cobalt-users] Re: Future of Cobalt

[Thom LaCosta <baltimoremd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 4 Jun 2003, Greg Hewitt-Long wrote:

> >So, instead of debating Sun's policy/motivatio/vision we need to begin
> >planning what we'll do when the products now longer have any
> >support....and I don't think we can count on the VARs for help, since
> >VAR in the Cobalt sense may have been the same as distributor.
>
>
> I think you need to be aware that most cobalt "vars" *were* distributors,

I knew that, and was trying NOT to insult any iron mongers on the
list....as my own experience woirking for a distributor taught me that
the Value Add in VAR simply meant adding something of very small cost to
justify a higher selling price.


> I honestly don't think Sun is the answer - IBM doesn't have anything close,
> Dell's *nix boxes are in the same boat, and the solutions look pretty
>much like they are Plesk or CPanel at the moment - but at $1500 per
>server licence fees, that's NOT a great option.  Does anyone know of a
>GPL or similarly licensed, even a low cost licensed control panel that
>does this?

Think about our small and vocal marketplace...what motivation does
Plesk or CPanel have to produce a low cost option......absolutely
none whatsoever....they have their customer base by the short hairs.

If you want another level of frustration, try to find a billing system
that works and follows standard accounting rules.  Some that I've seen
simply make me an employee of the software company, based on the fees
they want.

This niche reminds me of the glory days of IBM XT's...I worked in retail
and had no problems extracting 5 to 6 thousand bucks for a system...

>
> While it would be nice to have a hardware platform standardized, I'm
> not entirely convinced that it's necessary - surely some group somewhere
> can cobble together the tools using MySQL/PHP and generate a worth
> control panel at less than a couple of hundred a licence...  any
> takers???


Ah, we use the same tabbacky in our dream pipes....but I'm not holding my
breath.

Thom