[cw-discuss] Customer expectations - to be controlled or not controlled? - that is the question.

[Neil O'Connell]

Hello Bill,

Thank you for your reply to all and sundry - it was actually riveting to
read, and I agree more or less totally with the sentiment. Especially the
implied need to recognise the good work of Jeremy and Co. in providing a
viable alternative to the Microsoft OS environment.

You have not slightly missed the point of this forum though have you?

We are (or at least I am) talking about the submission of new programs to
the CrossOver listings, and the unfortunate time it takes to get them
through the in-house procedure.

An area that Jeremy himself has agreed is a bit tardy at the moment, due to
the upsurge of interest post the MAC release.

You on the other hand seem to be implying we should be damned thankful for
what CrossOver has given us. I am thankful as it happens, but that does not
mean that I would miss the opportunity to constructively criticise a process
that could perhaps be improved, especially when I speak from professional
experience. Professional advice - feely given - a rare thing to see I would
contend.

I am confident that the good folks at CrossOver know they have a great
product, and I am convinced that they know the vast majority of customers
appreciate this point.

This is a discussion forum - a forum for us (the customers) to provide
feedback - thankfully; the CEO Jeremy is an ardent contributor here - so he
gets the feedback first hand. This forum (I am sure) does much to shape the
next generation of product, there would be not much point to it otherwise. A
simple helpdesk would do if the customer's views were meaningless.

As for the rest of your content regarding the MS criminal intent - I would
like to gently distance myself from it - I know quite literally nothing of
that which you speak. There is a saying "all is fair in love and war" - I
suggest all is fair in the market place and this will be so until
appropriate enforceable laws are enacted. You are right MS will of course do
what they can to protect their market share within the law - as would most
companies worldwide. Their market share will only be eroded by viable
competing products, and not by anything else.

We are not comparing like with like here and never will be until Linux
itself is more user friendly - in my humble opinion.

I am no apologista for MS - nor do I advocate the reported appalling
practices that you allude to in your post - but I do defend my right to
influence Crossover towards a more useful process of program introduction
and validation - from a customer perspective.

So give us the gossip then - nudge, nudge - what did Bill ever do to you
then?

Regards,

Neil O'Connell



-----Original Message-----
From: Bill [mailto:bill at sunsouthwest.com] 
Sent: 24 May 2007 21:27
To: Jeremy White
Cc: Neil O'Connell; discuss at crossover.codeweavers.com
Subject: Re: [cw-discuss] customer expectations

Jeremy, Thanks for the information;

You guys are far too diplomatic to say a few more things that
USERS of your product need to be aware of, and think about.

Microsoft is not playing some game, they are playing for keeps.

And what they want to keep is your desktop. They own probably
95% of them right now, and even that isn't enough to satiate their greed.

Think about it - maybe a hundred, two hundred, even FIVE HUNDRED
engineers are more than enough to design and build ANY conceivable
operating system, along with the five or ten major applications the vast
majority of the desktop market uses or needs.

Do you seriously think the work output of even five hundred people is
worth FIVE BILLION DOLLARS? (actually, I think it's even more!)

That would be TEN MILLION DOLLARS per employee.

Yet that's what microsoft is raking in for it's strangle-hold on our
desktops. Why? And why doesn't SOMEBODY make more of
an effort to take at least some of this incredibly lucrative market
away?

Read Judge Jackson's Findings if you really don't know.

But the bottom line is, they break the law with impunity, there is
no one able to stop them, and your government, at all levels, simply
does not care or understand why they should stop them.

Does that mean no one has succeeded? Funny you should ask.

They regularly LOSE lawsuits. In fact, given competent experts on
your side, you are almost guaranteed a victory, assuming your legal
argument seeking to enforce your rights, is soundly based.

BUT you, the general public, will never know what happened in those
lawsuits because the EVIDENCE, along with the settlement terms, are
SEALED. And the ''victims'' usually get enough to simply retire.

Imagine if any small time crook like a liquor store robber could simply
pay a few bucks to settle his case - talk to the liquor store owner, find
out what it would take to make him happy, and just give it to him?

Happens every day in Civil Court. CRIMINAL cases are ''settled''
without ever being charged, because people with the means to bring
these cases would rather have money  than send mr billy gates and his
henchmen to jail - what good would that do for their bottom line, anyway?

Okay, why does all this matter?

Crossover is trying to give you the tools to DEFEAT microsoft's plans.

Even if microsoft came up with something, some application you just
couldn't live without, you DON'T NEED their operating system to run it.

This is NOT part of their strategy.

The bigger the number of Crossover users gets, the more motivation
microsoft feels to do something to stop them. The more they will use
hidden hooks, concealed anti- or non-functional pieces of code to
hobble installation and operation on ''foreign'' operating environments.

This isn't a game. It is for real - real money is at stake. Lots of it.

Think about that the next time you get on the Jeremy's cases to ''do
something about my favorite xyz program...''

The reason they may be having trouble may be microsoft's criminal intent.

* definition - if something is against the Law, then doing it is a criminal
act. Doesn't mean you'll necessarily get arrested, or go to jail. If 
it's only
a Civil Law, then the only Remedy is a lawsuit. But many Civil Actions
also have Criminal Law components, such as Fraud, Embezzlement, etc..
Many times, the victims don't want the publicity of a Criminal Trial, and
are happy to Settle - meaning, WE never get to find out what happened.

Bill Hemmings
Some place in Kansas

= = = = = = = = = = = =

Jeremy White wrote:
> Hi Neil,
>
> I've got a few points I'm hoping to clear up.  First, there
> are two Jeremys from CodeWeavers on this thread.  I'm the founder
> and CEO and chief troublemaker.  Jeremy Newman is the main web
> developer here, responsible for making changes to our system.
>
>   
>

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