Comment Re:A few questions you should ask before choosing (Score 1) 57
I really did not want to use this forum to compare specific pricing models between vendors. I was simply trying to emphasize that when comparing two solutions, the end-user should ensure that they are comparing "apples with apples". If a user determines that they will want indemnification and support for their development they should be comparing Crystal Reports with the solution vendors which provide these services for Open Source Software. In this case, I used Actuate's BIRT offering as an example. Although the reporting engine is essentially the same, Actuate does provide additional services on top of what is offered with the core Eclipse platform. All I wanted to point out is that these services come at a cost, essentially making Actuate's offering a commercial product.
As for your comment about the comparison of our $500/seat offering with your $995/server not being accurate, I believe this is due to our different licensing models. We currently do not separate the design-time(Report Designing) and runtime(Deployment) in our licensing. This means that users who purchase Crystal Reports Developer will receive the following:
- A full-blown Report Designer
- Deployment licensing
- Indemnification
- 2 free support incidents
- Access to our extensive knowledge base and forums
Anyways, to re-iterate, it was not my intention to get into the details of each vendor's pricing model. Instead I wanted to ensure that users understand that there are different flavors of OSS out there...free and not free. When comparing a commercial software, such as Crystal Reports, to an OSS solution just be sure to compare it to the version of the software you intend to use. In many cases, the "commercial" solution will come out cheaper than that of the "commercially-supported" OSS.
Regards,Sean
