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- Hi Folks,
-
- 1.99n still isn't out. Sorry about that. However, as a separate
- matter we are going to be unifying our price structure. Since I've
- botched before, I'd like people to look at this and send comments
- before we finalize it (when 1.99n ships in the next few days). Please
- send your comments directly to me "ctm@ardi.com" instead of to this
- list, unless you're absolutely sure you want other people on the list
- seeing your commentary.
-
- The E/NS prices are dramatically lower than what they have been of
- late, although until 1.99<x> is available for NEXTSTEP, we won't be
- actively selling E/NS. We've introduced a student price for
- Executor/DOS and raised the Executor/Linux student price, but in
- reality the student price buys you both E/D and E/L for the same
- price. This is a discount for students buying E/D and a discount for
- students who buy both E/D and E/L, but a price increase for students
- who only want buy E/L.
-
- Our original Linux prices were as low as they were because we thought
- E/L would be a very rough product with no tech. support, but it's come
- a long way and I think it is at parity with E/D, especially once our
- SVGAlib port is available.
-
- Our previous policy was that E/L users would be entitled to free 2.0.x
- releases (but not 2.1, 2.2, etc.). Now we've made that policy all
- inclusive, so E/NS and E/D owners will also be entitled to those free
- updates. We'll have to recompute authorization keys before 2.0 comes
- out.
-
- Between the "=========="s is the proposed text that we'll put in our
- new FAQ, README, unofficial WWW pages and license panels. Please let
- me know if there is ambiguity or other badness.
-
- ==========================================================================
- Here's our licensing fees (all price increases will be effective July
- 1, all price reductions effective immediately):
-
-
- E/NS E/D E/L
-
- 1.99 stu $99 $49 $49
-
- 1.99 edu $99 $49 $49
-
- 1.99 com $199 $99 $99
-
- International shipping is $20
-
- 1.99 Student licensees will be able to use both E/D and E/L for the
- same $49 price. Educational and Commercial licensees can pay an
- additional $25 to the E/L fee to receive an E/D license as well (and
- vice versa).
-
- All 1.x owners will be entitled to free upgrades through and including
- 2.0.x, as long as the upgrades are picked up electronically. 2.0.x
- releases will fix bugs in 2.0, but will not add new functionality;
- that will be reserved for 2.1.x, etc.
-
- Once 2.0 is in beta, the 1.99 prices will no longer be valid. 2.0
- will be a shrink-wrapped produce available from a variety of sources.
- The manufacturer's suggested retail price for 2.0 is:
-
- 2.0 stu X X X
-
- 2.0 edu $249 $125 $125
-
- 2.0 com $499 $249 $249
-
- It is unknown whether there will be be student pricing for 2.0, but if
- so, it will be at least as expensive as the 1.99 student pricing.
-
- All prices are subject to change.
- ==========================================================================
-
- NOTE: because the E/L student price won't go up until July 1, we will
- still be accepting $25 student purchases, but at that price you won't
- get a free E/D license. However, if you are a student and want to buy
- both, you'll be able to do so for $49. If you're a student and you've
- already purchased E/L for $25 and you want to add an E/D license for
- an additional $24, we'll allow you to do that, but those licenses
- can't be split, you can't let a friend use the E/D while you use the
- E/L. If you're a student and you've already purchased E/D for $99 and
- you'd like an E/L license for free (can't be split though), you can
- send us e-mail (orders@ardi.com).
-
- We still haven't licensed PGP for commercial use, but we should be
- doing that soon so that we'll be able to take credit card orders via
- e-mail. Any other suggestions to improve our cashflow will cheerfully
- be read.
-
- --Cliff
- ctm@ardi.com
-
-