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Free IDL [message #27481]

Thu, 25 October 2001 01:38

M. Vountas
Messages: 1
Registered: October 2001

Junior Member

Dear NG,

I am using IDL/Wave since 1993 for vizualisation purposes in the field
of space imaging and atmospheric science.

Since then the pricing (including schools and universities) increased
drastically.
We are spending now more then 10.000 Euro for about 20 licenses (the
reseller told us that this is not the normal price but a special
bargain- what a joke).

I am seriously thinking about leaving the IDL/Wave track and go for
something cheaper or free software. Of course I would like to move to
something that has some affinity to IDL but this does not necessarily
must be the case (a colleague told me that something like scilab, a free
matlab derivative might be helpful). On the other hand I read about gdl
(a free IDL developed at sourcefourge), which is announced to be
compatibel to IDL, but on sourcefourge they don't seem to make progress
since 2000- This sounds not too promising...

At least one thing is clear to me and my colleagues, we don't want to
support such (monopolist) pricing policy by still buying IDL, PV-Wave
and related products as long as we can avoid it. And much more
important: we cannot afford it any more!

I would like to ask the NG what is your opinion about the pricing? Have
you made the same experience? And, if so, what are your proposals to
prevent from being trapped in this way? Or do we only have the wrong
reseller ;-)

Best wishes

Marco

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Re: Free IDL [message #27536 is a reply to message #27481]

Sat, 27 October 2001 22:18

Joseph B. Gurman
Messages: 31
Registered: April 2000

Member

In article <MPG.16432f968dd7859698972e@news.frii.com>,
david@dfanning.com wrote:

> Bernard K. (bknaepen@'skip'mac.com) writes:
>
>> did you really mean $2000 for 50 licenses?
>> I am paying $300 a year for 1 mac license...
>> (from RSI France)
>
> Oh, oh. It's the airline fare wars all over again.
>
> "What do you mean you paid $300 for that seat!?
> I paid $1200!"
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
> P.S. Let's just say I'm sure the French have
> to pay for more holidays than the Americans. :-)

Heck, some of us would lunge at the chance to pay $300 for
maintenance on Mac OS X IDL.... We'd even promise not to use the license
on fetes nationales.

But I digress.

Joe Gurman

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Re: Free IDL [message #27547 is a reply to message #27481]

Fri, 26 October 2001 22:13

Mark Rivers
Messages: 49
Registered: February 2000

Member

Steve Smith<steven_smith> <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:slrn9tjbpu.ugj.nobody@pooh.nrel.gov...
> Please tell me you're talking about the maintenance fee! My licenses were
at
> least $1500 each (single user) and about $200-300 /year maintenance. If
that's
> your actual license fee, that looks like a great deal! Even for
maintenance
> only, it's still a good deal.

We paid a one-time fee of $7,000 for a 50 seat department license, and the
annual maintenance is $2,000. This was a publicly advertised rate, not a
special deal. I presume it is still available. It is for academic
institutions only. They were also selling campus-wide licenses and single
"lab" licenses for different rates.

Mark

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Re: Free IDL [message #27556 is a reply to message #27481]

Fri, 26 October 2001 11:47

nobody@nowhere.com (S is currently offline

nobody@nowhere.com (S
Messages: 55
Registered: July 2001

Member

On Fri, 26 Oct 2001 08:16:02 -0500, Mark Rivers <rivers@cars.uchicago.edu>
wrote:
>
> The price for a University "department" license in the US is $2,000 annually
> for 50 licenses. This is what I pay and I think it is a fair deal. There
> are plenty of less powerful packages that cost more than $40 per seat per
> year even for universities. These 50 licenses are floating, so we use them
> for Windows, Linux and various Unix systems.
>
> Mark
>
>
>

Please tell me you're talking about the maintenance fee! My licenses were at
least $1500 each (single user) and about $200-300 /year maintenance. If that's
your actual license fee, that looks like a great deal! Even for maintenance
only, it's still a good deal.
--
Steve S.

steve@NOSPAMmailaps.org
remove NOSPAM before replying

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Re: Free IDL [message #27562 is a reply to message #27481]

Fri, 26 October 2001 09:15

Bernard K.
Messages: 11
Registered: October 2001

Junior Member

I guess having to pay more for local *support* is ok if this is
needed to cover higher operation costs.
However, I am not convinced this is justified when only buying
a software license. The bulk of the costs there are associated with
development which is done in the US so I see no reason to charge
customers a different amount according to their locations (aside
from handling costs).
If I don't want support, why can't I just buy my license from RSI US?
(not forgetting to pay appropriate taxes)

Bernard.

In article <MPG.16432f968dd7859698972e@news.frii.com>, David Fanning
<david@dfanning.com> wrote:

> Bernard K. (bknaepen@'skip'mac.com) writes:
>
>> did you really mean $2000 for 50 licenses?
>> I am paying $300 a year for 1 mac license...
>> (from RSI France)
>
> Oh, oh. It's the airline fare wars all over again.
>
> "What do you mean you paid $300 for that seat!?
> I paid $1200!"
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
> P.S. Let's just say I'm sure the French have
> to pay for more holidays than the Americans. :-)

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Re: Free IDL [message #27566 is a reply to message #27481]

Fri, 26 October 2001 08:30

David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001

Senior Member

Bernard K. (bknaepen@'skip'mac.com) writes:

> did you really mean $2000 for 50 licenses?
> I am paying $300 a year for 1 mac license...
> (from RSI France)

Oh, oh. It's the airline fare wars all over again.

"What do you mean you paid $300 for that seat!?
I paid $1200!"

Cheers,

David

P.S. Let's just say I'm sure the French have
to pay for more holidays than the Americans. :-)

--
David W. Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438, E-mail: david@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155

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Re: Free IDL [message #27567 is a reply to message #27481]

Fri, 26 October 2001 08:18

Bernard K.
Messages: 11
Registered: October 2001

Junior Member

did you really mean $2000 for 50 licenses?
I am paying $300 a year for 1 mac license...
(from RSI France)

Bernard.

In article <vndC7.148$N4.4775@news.uchicago.edu>, Mark Rivers
<rivers@cars.uchicago.edu> wrote:

> M. Vountas <SPAM2vountas@iup.physik.uni-bremen> wrote in message
> news:3BD7CF6F.4A8D8AC@iup.physik.uni-bremen...
>> Dear NG,
>>
>> I am using IDL/Wave since 1993 for vizualisation purposes in the field
>> of space imaging and atmospheric science.
>>
>> Since then the pricing (including schools and universities) increased
>> drastically.
>> We are spending now more then 10.000 Euro for about 20 licenses (the
>> reseller told us that this is not the normal price but a special
>> bargain- what a joke).
>
> The price for a University "department" license in the US is $2,000 annually
> for 50 licenses. This is what I pay and I think it is a fair deal. There
> are plenty of less powerful packages that cost more than $40 per seat per
> year even for universities. These 50 licenses are floating, so we use them
> for Windows, Linux and various Unix systems.
>
> Mark

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Re: Free IDL [message #27570 is a reply to message #27481]

Fri, 26 October 2001 06:16

Mark Rivers
Messages: 49
Registered: February 2000

Member

M. Vountas <SPAM2vountas@iup.physik.uni-bremen> wrote in message
news:3BD7CF6F.4A8D8AC@iup.physik.uni-bremen...
> Dear NG,
>
> I am using IDL/Wave since 1993 for vizualisation purposes in the field
> of space imaging and atmospheric science.
>
> Since then the pricing (including schools and universities) increased
> drastically.
> We are spending now more then 10.000 Euro for about 20 licenses (the
> reseller told us that this is not the normal price but a special
> bargain- what a joke).

The price for a University "department" license in the US is $2,000 annually
for 50 licenses. This is what I pay and I think it is a fair deal. There
are plenty of less powerful packages that cost more than $40 per seat per
year even for universities. These 50 licenses are floating, so we use them
for Windows, Linux and various Unix systems.

Mark

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Re: Free IDL [message #27607 is a reply to message #27481]

Thu, 25 October 2001 09:48

Pavel A. Romashkin
Messages: 531
Registered: November 2000

Senior Member

"M. Vountas" wrote:
>
> I would like to ask the NG what is your opinion about the pricing? Have
> you made the same experience? And, if so, what are your proposals to
> prevent from being trapped in this way?

I wouldn't worry about the pricing. It is fair, and aimed at keeping the
profit margin above the total bancruptcy. If licenses were cheaper, IDL
would not be a multiplatform tool it is now. Customer is the most
important consideration in this matter. You are not a customer anymore,
since you can't afford it, which is too bad, and your opinion is not of concern.

Do you guys think I can apply for a vice PR or marketing position at Kodak/RSI?
Cheers,
Pavel

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Re: Free IDL [message #27758 is a reply to message #27570]

Thu, 01 November 2001 01:36

Heiko Schellhorn
Messages: 1
Registered: November 2001

Junior Member

Hi all

M. Vountas <SPAM2vountas@iup.physik.uni-bremen> wrote...

> Since then the pricing (including schools and universities) increased
> drastically.
> We are spending now more then 10.000 Euro for about 20 licenses (the
> reseller told us that this is not the normal price but a special
> bargain- what a joke).

I know this offer: It's named IDLLAB20 (only usable for teaching students,
not for reseach purposes)
But Marco remember: The 10.000 $ payment (1 Euro nearly 1 Dollar) you payed
was only a advance payment. Soon you have to pay for the same licenses
again 13.000 $.
Finally the price of this so named "bargain" is nearly 23.000 $

Mark rivers wrote ...

> The price for a University "department" license in the US is $2,000 annually
> for 50 licenses.
That's a price there I dream from.

Here I write down a actual offer of Creaso (the one and only
IDL-distributor for Germany).
And then say again it's a fair price....

10 licenses for 35.000,-- $ (this includes a university-rabate of up to
60%)
10 licenses without rabate : 78.860,-- $

There's also no rabate if I buy more licenses, so you can multiplicate the
price with 5 so you'll get the price I have to pay for 50
university-licenses (175.000,-- $ !!!!!!!)

> This is what I pay and I think it is a fair deal.
If I get once such a price I would be very happy.

> These 50 licenses are floating, so we use them
> for Windows, Linux and various Unix systems.
The licenses I wrote about too.

Greetings
Heiko

--
------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------
Dipl. Inf. Heiko Schellhorn

University of Bremen Room: NWI-W3140
Inst. of Environmental Physics Phone: +49(0)421 218 4080
P.O. Box 33 04 40 Fax: +49(0)421 218 4555
D-28334 Bremen Mail: mailto:schell@physik.uni-bremen.de
Germany www: http://www.iup.physik.uni-bremen.de
http://www.sciamachy.de
http://www.geoscia.de

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