Thanks to the folks who replied (both publicly and privately)
to my original note on this topic. For the record, I have
included essential parts of those responses to this message
for all to read.
Yeah, I didn't actually think the Genoa test suite would be FREE.
What bothers me is that the IPP group--a fully functioning working
group of the IETF--actually allowed a SINGLE vendor to stand up in
a face-to-face IPP meeting and talk business. Not generic business,
mind you, but business FOR THAT VENDOR ONLY.
If the PWG desires to send out the equivalent of a "Request For
Quotation" or whatever, then fine. Do that. (And, btw, I think
that's a *great* idea for getting an IPP test suite going.)
However, to give very precious meeting time to a SINGLE VENDOR
is wholely and totally UNACCEPTABLE. The fact that Genoa is
virtually ABSENT from ongoing PWG activities (of any kind) makes
the situation even more distasteful.
Even worse was having Genoa get up and pitch their (*potential*)
product, yet the topic was not on the agenda posted for the meeting.
I'll bet Chris Wellens of IWL would have liked to have had the chance
to make a similar pitch. As a fellow host-based software vendor,
even I would have liked to have been involved in such an exploratory
meeting to better understand potential future business opportunities,
even if test suites are not our specific bread-and-butter business.
This kind of preferential treatment of a single vendor is NOT
something the PWG should be doing, particularly when that vendor
has never taken the time to involve itself with one or more of
the many ongoing PWG projects on the table (past or present).
...jay
PS: For those unable to attend the IPP meeting, Bob Herriot provided
some very useful information. At least this will serve to level
the playing field a bit.
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-- JK Martin | Email: jkm at underscore.com --
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Carl-Uno Manros wrote:
>> Jay,
>> Do not believe that the test suite is FREE. You can either have your tests
> done by Geneo in which case they will charge you for testing. If you want
> to buy the test suite you can count on forking out some $20,000.
don at lexmark.com wrote:
>> Jay:
>> You forgot to put a winking emoticon after the word "FREE" in your e-mail.
Robert Herriot wrote:
>> The financial details were omitted from the minutes. Gary said that it
> typically costs Genoa about $200,000 to develop a test suite. He never
> volunteered what he would charge pwg members, so I asked that question
> at the end. He said that he didn't know but it would depend on their
> estimate of market size. He gave examples of a cost of $7,500 for a
> test suite which had a large market versus $27,000 for another test
> suite they developed for a small market.
>> So, it won't be FREE to any of us, but I expect it will cost less that
> if we were each to develop our own test suites. Genoa has to cover
> its $200,000 cost somehow.
Philip Thambidurai wrote:
>> I don't recall Genoa or anyone else saying this was FREE.
Jay Martin wrote:
>> This section of the just-posted IPP minutes caught my attention:
>> > GENOA
> > -----
> >
> > A presentation was made by Gary James from Genoa Technology about
> > what Genoa is doing testing protocols. A discussion followed about
> > how Genoa would do an IPP test suite. Genoa has looked at the IPP
> > protocol and they are in the process of making a business decision
> > to prioritize the various other projects they are investigating.
> > They currently plan to do an IPP test suite and are trying to decide
> > when to do it. They expect a decision by early '98.
>> This is really good news, that Genoa is undertaking the effort to
> deliver a FREE test suite for IPP. It's not often that we find a
> vendor so willing to provide such tools to an otherwise highly
> competitive industry.
>> Thanks to Genoa for standing up at the IPP meeting and making this
> important public announcement! We look forward to seeing this new
> FREE test suite.
>> ...jay