Linux and Stamps.com
Ryan McBeth
to deliver electronic stamps to the desktop. The idea is that you can
electronically order stamps, have them downloaded to your computer, and
then print them out on labels or envelopes. To prevent fraud, special
software is required to reside on the client's machine.
I wrote Stamps.com and asked them if they are planning to develop
client-side software for Linux. This was their response:
********
Dear Ryan:
Thank you for contacting Stamps.com Info. Presently, the only
platforms supported are Windows 95, 98, and NT.
Harry Heck, Stamps.com, Customer Support Analyst
********
It would be fantastic if their software were available for Linux. Why
should Windows users be the sole beneficiary of this convenience? I
would strongly suggest anyone who can use this software to write
in...@stamps.com and request a Linux beta.
Ryan
Ryan McBeth, Web Sales
\------------------------------\
\ www.3clicks.net \
\ Website and Intranet design \
/Voice. 609.596.8971 /
/ e-mail. mcb...@3clicks.net /
/------------------------------/
3clicks can take you anywhere!
Oleg Dulin
> I wrote Stamps.com and asked them if they are planning to develop
>client-side software for Linux. This was their response:
>
> ********
>
> Dear Ryan:
>
> Thank you for contacting Stamps.com Info. Presently, the only
>platforms supported are Windows 95, 98, and NT.
This brings up another question:
What is so Win32 specific in their application that it couldn't have been
implemented in Java or be totally Web based ?
As far as I am concerned, this application is a bad design decision.
Clearly, this company lives in the late 80's.
I am sorry for ranting, but it just bothers me when companies set up fancy
web sites and then develop non-portable, non-Web based, proprietary
applications. In case of stamps.com, I see no reason for making the client
software non-Web based.
--
Oleg Dulin,
Clarkson University, Computer Engineering
http://www.clarkson.edu/~dulino
Ryan McBeth
I can forgive you for your rant. Proprietary or not, I don't care.
All I want to do is to print out stamps from my computer. If I could
print them without having to reboot into Windows 95 I would be happy.
I would think that if enough people mailed this company and requested a
Linux (and Mac for that matter) version of their software, they would
develop one.
Ryan
Jim G
>Stamps.com is a website that has been approved by the US Postal Service
>to deliver electronic stamps to the desktop. The idea is that you can
>electronically order stamps, have them downloaded to your computer, and
>then print them out on labels or envelopes. To prevent fraud, special
>software is required to reside on the client's machine.
>
>client-side software for Linux. This was their response:
>
> ********
>
> Dear Ryan:
>
> Thank you for contacting Stamps.com Info. Presently, the only
>platforms supported are Windows 95, 98, and NT.
>
>
> ********
>
> It would be fantastic if their software were available for Linux. Why
>should Windows users be the sole beneficiary of this convenience? I
>would strongly suggest anyone who can use this software to write
>in...@stamps.com and request a Linux beta.
What are you willing to pay them to port their software? Unless there is a
substantial market to justify the development of a Linux version, why should
they waste their money when they could get a better return on their investment
by improving the windows version. BTW - with the version they have, they
cover over 85% of the personal systems out there, why bother investing for a
small part of the remaining 15%.
Jim G.
Jim G
>On Sat, 19 Dec 1998 19:02:52 -0500, Ryan McBeth <mcb...@3clicks.net> wrote:
>
>>client-side software for Linux. This was their response:
>>
>> ********
>>
>> Dear Ryan:
>>
>> Thank you for contacting Stamps.com Info. Presently, the only
>>platforms supported are Windows 95, 98, and NT.
>
>
>What is so Win32 specific in their application that it couldn't have been
>implemented in Java or be totally Web based ?
>
>As far as I am concerned, this application is a bad design decision.
>Clearly, this company lives in the late 80's.
>
>I am sorry for ranting, but it just bothers me when companies set up fancy
>web sites and then develop non-portable, non-Web based, proprietary
>applications. In case of stamps.com, I see no reason for making the client
>software non-Web based.
Designing for the Win32 API was an excellent design decision - by using the
win32 API they cover 85% of the personal system market (why bother with the
rest?), it works much better and faster than a java version would (why bother
adding an extra layer of needless code), has much better security than java
can provide (the app has to have very strict security to be certified by the
USPS), works much better with a larger number of printers (Windows has tons
of printer drivers), etc. It looks like the win32 API wins by covering the
most important part of the market, with fast, secure, widely printable code.
Like it or not, the truth is that basing an application on Java or the web
is not always the correct design decision. Each of those technologies
have their own severe limitations that make them a poor choice in many
situations. Force fitting a technology where it does poorly, does nobody any
good - it definitely helps kill a market.
In this case, the folks at stamps.com made the correct marketing, technical
and business decision. Cripling their application by making it run everywhere
(which probably wouldn't acutally happen in reality), gains them essentially
nothing but more support costs.
Rats, market reality gets in the way of theory again.
Have a nice day,
Jim G.
Mircea
will operate on 85% of this patients' stomach. I cannot be bothered by
the remaining 15%". Welcome to the real world.
MST
Jim G wrote:
>
Jim G
Actually in the US, medicine does follow this example. Most people have an
HMO where they have a Family Practice gatekeeper and a ton of specialists
who focus on only one part of the body (my wife's knee surgeon wouldn't work
on her foot, etc.). The specialists focus on one thing and do it very well.
comp.os.linux.advocacy
Stamps.com
complications, etc.) is at a surgical center that does only heart bypass
operations - it is somewhat like a factory, but they do it right every time
and have seen virtually every problem at least once.
Again the best way to win in the market is focus, focus, focus. When
stamps.com focuses on the win xx market and ignores the non-win market
they are making a very good business decision that only alienates 15%
of the computer world. Since you can never please everyone, kissing off
only 15% isn't such a bad thing.
Academics can rail against the commercial market, but basic greed is
what makes things happen in this world and the academics would have
no food, shelter or anything else if someone wasn't willing to provide
them in exchange for a little compensation.
Jim G.
brl...@my-dejanews.com
> has much better security than java
> can provide
You are confused. Java does not make it more difficult to create a secure
application. The source of your confusion is probably the high-profile bugs
in Java related to executing untrusted code, a very difficult problem that
does not apply to the stamp application.
So far, no company has been stupid enough to attempt a win32 system for
executing untrusted code. It would never work.
--
http://web.mit.edu/brlewis/www/
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
Brent Metzler
news:slrn77of00...@localhost.localdomain...
>On Sat, 19 Dec 1998 19:02:52 -0500, Ryan McBeth <mcb...@3clicks.net>
wrote:
>
>> I wrote Stamps.com and asked them if they are planning to develop
>>client-side software for Linux. This was their response:
>>
>> ********
>>
>> Dear Ryan:
>>
>> Thank you for contacting Stamps.com Info. Presently, the only
>>platforms supported are Windows 95, 98, and NT.
>
>This brings up another question:
>
>What is so Win32 specific in their application that it couldn't have been
>implemented in Java or be totally Web based ?
>
Duh -- Printing maybe?? Can *you* print from a java applet. Hey, maybe
they could have made an activeX applet :-)
>As far as I am concerned, this application is a bad design decision.
>Clearly, this company lives in the late 80's.
Very Juno-like. And just when Steve Jobs thought that the Mac was getting
back into the mainstream.
>
>I am sorry for ranting, but it just bothers me when companies set up fancy
>web sites and then develop non-portable, non-Web based, proprietary
>applications. In case of stamps.com, I see no reason for making the client
>software non-Web based.
Let's all write and tell them how Stamps.com could benefit *us*!
--
Brent Metzler
Programmer
Sharetec Systems Inc.
bmet...@sharetec.net
Bob Nelson
> [...] i know the competition is stiff, what with all the other
> idiot posts like "linux is like a rembrandt painting and (windows)
> is like a painting of elvis on velvet" [...]
If an allegory must be drawn to paintings, a more fitting one is that
Linux (and the various Unices) are neither like Rembrandt nor the
Velvety King. Rather, each system is essentiually a blank canvas with
the ``artist'' given the freedom (plus the tools as well as the
responsibility) to perhaps transcend Rembrandt or possibly exceed the
tackiness of paintings sold from the back of vans.
--
========================================================================
Bob Nelson -- Dallas, Texas, USA (bne...@iname.com)
http://www.oldradio.com/archives/nelson/open-computing.html
``Those who don't understand UNIX are condemned to reinvent it, poorly.''
duz...@gmail.com
> Stamps.com is a website that has been approved by the US Postal Service
> to deliver electronic stamps to the desktop. The idea is that you can
> electronically order stamps, have them downloaded to your computer, and
> then print them out on labels or envelopes. To prevent fraud, special
> software is required to reside on the client's machine.
>
> client-side software for Linux. This was their response:
>
> ********
>
> Dear Ryan:
>
> Thank you for contacting Stamps.com Info. Presently, the only
> platforms supported are Windows 95, 98, and NT.
>
>
> ********
>
> It would be fantastic if their software were available for Linux. Why
> should Windows users be the sole beneficiary of this convenience? I
> would strongly suggest anyone who can use this software to write
> in...@stamps.com and request a Linux beta.
>
>
> Ryan McBeth, Web Sales
> \------------------------------\
> \ www.3clicks.net \
> \ Website and Intranet design \
> /Voice. 609.596.8971 /
> / e-mail. mcb...@3clicks.net /
> /------------------------------/
> 3clicks can take you anywhere!
Got a useless POS CDROM in the mail from Stamps.com.
Fact is, All 250 neighbors in my neighborhood have CONVERTED their computers to
Linux Mint 13, in the past year!!!
Ezekiel
>news:c1ce3e55-f6a5-48c9...@googlegroups.com...
>IF contracted to the USPS, then, they violate Federal Policy in only
>providing a program for proprietary platforms... All viable options are to
>be utilized, especially now, that Linux has surpassed Microsoft as the
>"most proficient OS" on the planet! (Gartner)
>
>Got a useless POS CDROM in the mail from Stamps.com.
My neighbor runs Plan-9 as his OS. He demands support for that OS.
My other neighbor runs HURD. Why isn't that OS supported?
>Fact is, All 250 neighbors in my neighborhood have CONVERTED
> their computers to Linux Mint 13, in the past year!!!
--
>Problem with Chromebooks in the enterprise - when IBM, HP, eBay,
>Citi Bank, etc writes an email, internal document or spreadsheet
>they don't want Google to see each and every word they write?
Didn't think you had the brains that God gave a cockroach, fsckwit.
How about encrypting things that they don't want others to see?
turdv "thinks" that encryption will provide privacy on the docs and
spreadsheets you edit and spell-check online.
Jan 21, 2013
Message-ID: <gh8rf81ca9gjjjrt1...@4ax.com>
chrisv
>IF contracted to the USPS, then, they violate Federal Policy in only providing a program for proprietary platforms...
>All viable options are to be utilized, especially now, that Linux has surpassed Microsoft as the "most proficient OS"
>on the planet! (Gartner)
connected to a printer.
>Got a useless POS CDROM in the mail from Stamps.com.
>Fact is, All 250 neighbors in my neighborhood have CONVERTED their computers to
>Linux Mint 13, in the past year!!!
--
'the "advocates" are constantly telling us companies like Logitech are
BANNED from saying they are Linux compatible.' - Hadron Quark, lying
shamelessly
johnh...@gmail.com
Look, i don't know about this guy's 250 "neighbors" but Linux has been spreading like wildfire in the last couple years. It's no longer a fraction of a percent of people that use a linux desktop every day in a home/work environment with a high volume of postal output. It's hardly asking for HURD or bizarre Radio Shack Hardware support to want a debian package to work with.
Now let's just say that the cost of releasing a linux port of their windows binary is a economically crippling task requiring hundreds of software engineers to complete, as this thread seems to imply. (Which is ridiculous. The stamps.com software is extremely simple, the UI variant is functionally unimportant, and most of the online functions for checking prices and updating postal policies and fee schedules would be identical.) Isn't this why JAVA was created. Yeah, having to compile on the fly is a pain, and it's not as flashy, but there's no reason why a JAVA client couldn't bring the capability of Stamps.com to any machine capable of JAVA, which is pretty much everything these days.
I have Windows on my laptop, and a Linux Desktop and a Linux NAS server and a Linux laptop, and a proprietary media server. So yes, the software works fine on my laptop. But I don't like plugging in my laptop all the time just so I can print postage. That function makes a lot more sense when attached to my Desktop. I'd pick a slightly clumsy JAVA client that runs multiplatform over a Win - ONLY client any day of the week.
Someone was mentioning that they might have a JAVA client available very soon now. Maybe I'll go encourage someone to produce that.
I'm not criticizing them for choosing the Win binary initially, but in today's market, it's just silly to ignore the linux market of tech savvy users who provide a lot of their own support.
I dunno., I just think this isn't a stupid question, since it's still valid from what I hear. Why are we acting like this is an outlandish demand? The "Linux is a TINY portion of the market" argument has been growing less valid every day, and several huge sectors in the computerized world have to put out orders of magnitude greater funding and support have moved to include Linux when they never would have considered it previously. My biggest example of this is Steam, who surely faced and faces a mammoth task in choosing launch a dedicated Linux client. But because this huge player made this move, there has been an INCREDIBLE increase in the number of titles supporting Linux out of the box. Is it really so much to ask that Stamps.com produce a dedicated binary for their simple client?
I hope not. Maybe I just expect too much.
Snit
d35b0c82-c86e-4668...@googlegroups.com,
> Wow. I'd appreciate it if everyone could try to post replies that are a little
> bit more snarky and self-important, while citing information that is
> imprecise, uninformed, out-of-date, and generally patronizing. We need a
> little more of that.
...
--
"In fact, the main goal of Linux might be called usability... the most
important thing is that it works well and people ... want to use it."
-- Linus Torvalds