Re: [Security Firewall] Florins Firewall

>> I still don't get it.  Not once was MNF ever to be given away for
>> free.  SNF wasn't, MNF8.2 wasn't, what made everyone think that MNF2
>> was any different.
>
> That's right, it never was "free", but at least I could download it, test
> & try it and create solutions for my customers (in my case, I've sold 6
> (*)copies of MNF), but I've also sold more copies of ClarkConnect because
> I can do more with it. (* Sold by recommendation, and then I support it. I
> even have my own mirror of the Mandrake/Mandriva ftp site to do this, and
> more, with.)
>

Actually if I remember correctly SNF/MNF1 was distributed under a dual
license that was both GPL and for the 'commercial one', which supposedly
had additional items in it and the ability to automatically download
updates was a fee item.

You can(could?) find .iso's of MNF1 and even a snapshot of MNF2 on many
mirror sites.

>
>> Did I miss something?  Was everyone told that MNF2 was supposed to be
>> free when the betas started rolling and then we snatched it away and
>> went back on our word?
>
> No, not free. Just available (as before) for download to see if it works
> (which there is no proof of, therefore I'm not going to spend hundreds of
> dollars to find out).
>

See my comment above.

Which brings me to another disconnect point.  I personally have no probelm
payng for a good product(I've bought mandrake boxed sets and club
memberships over the years.)  However the thing that myself and I would
suspect others might have some issue about is the rather interesting
disconect in the pricing model.

I can get corporate server 3.0 with one month of support for ~300 euros.
yet MNF2 for the same level of support is 598 euros.  That one I still
have some problems with (and assuming the pricing as it is, is it possible
for schools or other non profit institutions to get a discount?)

> But....  daouda-4qZELD6FgxhWk0Htik3J/[email protected] Announced on this list that...
>
> "Yes, after discussions with management, we decide to make the iso
> available for contributors, especially those on this list.
> A list of MNF contributors/testers/lurkers will be set up by Florin [if
> he agrees] and a VIP club membership will be given to these
> contributors in order to download the MNF2 iso. Just drop a mail to
> Florin with your name and email in body.
> Florin are you ok with this plan ?"

Yes I too have wondered what happened with this....  Since I did make some
useful contributions here to the product!  :-)

For what it is worth the vast majority of the pieces to build MNF are
already in nearly every mandrake release done for the past couple of
years.  I *think* versions of *naat* are in 2005 LE.

The big value add of MNF, IMHO, is that it can all be managed remotely
through a pretty decent web interface that I as an administrator can use
from anywhere and that it ties all the pieces nicely together.

(I use MNF at my home and at a school I volunteer at ( GPL version that
has been available for download. ) )

Just my 2 cents worth.

-randy

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