[Asterisk-Users] Cisco 7960 SIP Images

[Jon Lawrence]

On Tuesday 30 March 2004 12:34, Terence Parker wrote:
> > > Wanta take a guess what would happen if Cisco decide to really enforce
> > > the legal rules?
> >
> > I'll bite:
> >
> > Their market share would plummet in all their markets, and then smaller,
> > more innovative companies would become more able to compete with them,
> > and the overall marketplace would be vastly improved because of more
> > participants and more choices?
> >
> > B.
>
> I can't wait for that day.
>
> I don't deny that cisco make some nice products, but I don't like companies
> who have the attitude that since they're big and powerful they can invent
> whatever pricing policy they want and rip off the consumer.  Of course, the
> argument is that as a consumer I can simply choose not to buy if I don't
> want to - and indeed we are now turning towards Polycom phones rather than
> Cisco.
>
> Cisco phones are already expensive enough - it is simply cheeky that they
> should have to charge further for the "software" that runs on the phone.
> That is a joke. All hardware includes software to some degree, yet one
> doesn't have to pay creative labs for the drivers that power their
> soundcards, nor Vegastream for the bundled web manage interface. And when
> bugs are fixed, it should be the responsibility of manufacturers to update
> them - the bugs shouldn't exist in the first place.
>
> Reading through some of the arguments on this thread (both pro & anti
> Cisco) it is interesting how some feel that we should be paying Cisco the
> money they are demanding because it funds research and development - ironic
> considering this very list is about community support for a community made
> project. Asterisk, like many other open source projects, prove that
> innovation CAN and DOES take place without direct financial incentive -
> indeed the likes of sendmail, bind, apache etc... were around years before
> Microshaft came out with its equivalent tripe - and they charge piss loads
> for what is effectively a piece of shite.
>
> For the Cisco phones we DO have, we don't have any purchased licenses and I
> don't ever intend on getting any either. Cisco can sue my ass if they
> really want to.
>
I have no problem with the idea of paying cisco for software that they write.
In fact I have no problem with with paying for software full stop. But I'd 
love to have enough money to sue them if that software proved to have 
security issues or proved to be not fit for purpose - eg if a phone had a bug 
in its implementation of SIP.
If people/companies want to charge for software fine (after all it takes 
time/money to develop) but they should be willing to take the responsibility 
that goes with it. Most companies don't - at least if you cantact cisco with 
a problem then they'll do their best to fix it or at least come up with a 
work-around, which is more than a certain other companies do.

Jon