TeX Live marketing (Was: task list...)

[Sebastian Rahtz]

Arthur Ogawa writes:
 > My position is to tell such people that they are welcome to purchase the
 > product. It costs $65 and consists of TeX Live, the CTAN CD set, and
 > four issues of TUGboat along with, incidently, a TUG membership for
 > 2000. This is to say that TUG has one product, 
 > regardless of how it is packaged.

And what will TUG do when eg Walnut Creek offer to sell TeX Live 5 for 
$2, as is? 

 > Most often when people want to buy the CD alone, they are not aware of
 > what TUG is or what it is doing, and they do not realize that TeX Live
 > is being manufactured by TUG specifically as a benefit to the various
 > TeX user groups and their members. Once they learn this, they are
 > usually quite happy to pay the $65. 

With this I agree. I think the "cheap TL CD" option is really for
people who *do* know what they are doing, and what they want. eg
people who want to give it to students en masse, etc

 > (You can't find a product to compete
 > with this: the four CDs cost you $65, total!)

of course, the CTAN CDs are almost complete useless unless you are
already considerably knowledgeable about TeX and CTAN :-}


Sebastian