[BlueOnyx:12399] Re: Solarspeed / Compass / BlueOnyx stores

[Jeff Rhys-Jones]

Isn't it amazing that one little post can start a really good discussion, with lots of insight and explanation - it's really cheered me up today.

It's true that over the last year - I've felt a bit like BX was fading away slowly for some reason, I didn't know what the plan was, where it was going and if it was going to be viable enough to survive long term. I need a long term solution because I have customers that rely on me to provide it to them. It did feel like BX was 'existing', rather than 'evolving'.

So todays BX 'workshop' I think I will call it - has been really useful. There are lots of opinions & ideas and that's great.

Alas - I will continue moving customers to Interworx, unfortunately - as it's not a matter of what I would like to use (BX of course) but actually what I have to use, based on features that customers are demanding - like using their email address as their login (!!) - as someone reminded me off list! 

Also, I'm afraid I don't buy the argument that 90% of people would all of a sudden stop using BX if there was a small cost attached to it. If so many people are using BX - and not some other free distro - then why are they bothering to download it at all? In my view, they downloaded BX because is a unique appliance solution - and BX downloaders absolutely know this. There really is nothing else like it - so I'm sure people would pay - if it were made easy for them to do so. And if Aventurin{e} sales are down... well perhaps it's not because people don't **want** to pay for it - but maybe because they don't **need** to pay for it - when they can download BX for nothing! If people are fine to pay a few pounds for a game on their smartphone - (which they will probably delete after a few months when they get bored of it)  why can't they pay a few pounds towards a BX license or at least more regular updates.

Anyway. I think I'm done now (I can here a collective sigh of relief across the list!)

Just for the record - regardless of what solution we put our customers on, I will always be grateful to Michael, Greg and others for the work done over the years. 

And the great thing about being on Interworx monthly leased pricing - is that I can move customers back to BX whenever I like - with no financial penalty!

Jeff