I regularly receive requests for quotes from purchasing agents for Eclipse software. In almost every case, they’re looking for an Eclipse-based IDE, but don’t quite know what to call it.
Today’s gems are:
- Eclipse CDT Juno
- Eclipse Eclipse 352
- Eclipse Eclipse JSEE Juno
- Eclipse software Version: Indigo Release
- Eclipse Java EE IDE for Web Developers
Based on the quantities requested for each of the above, we can count a couple of hundred new users to the Eclipse family.
I find it curious that resellers and purchasing agents can take the time to hunt through our website to find my email address, but apparently don’t bother to look for the names of actual software available from our site. They are presumably responding to a request to obtain software from development managers who also don’t really know what they’re asking for or understand the nature of open source software.
In most cases, I only get to connect with the purchasing agent with no direct connection to the people who end up using the software. I reply with a friendly note explaining the nature of open source software, tell them about the Eclipse Software User Agreement, and give them a link to the downloads. I can only hope that the information is passed on.
