Community Discussions and Support
Mercury/32 dead?

Searching for TheThousand@pmail on Bing produces 9 results. Google produces 5.

Is anyone promoting this? If you guys are serious about generating sustainable support for this product then advertising this far and wide is essential. There are obviously a lot of people/companies willing to contribute but they will not do so if they know nothing about this.

<P>Searching for TheThousand@pmail on Bing produces 9 results. Google produces 5.</P> <P>Is anyone promoting this? If you guys are serious about generating sustainable support for this product then advertising this far and wide is essential. There are obviously a lot of people/companies willing to contribute but they will not do so if they know nothing about this.</P>

Today www.pmail.com reports Mercury/32 (and Pegasus Mail) development has ceased. I believed 4.7x was in the pipeline... what happened so sudden?

Today <A href="http://www.pmail.com/">www.pmail.com</A> reports Mercury/32 (and Pegasus Mail) development has ceased. I believed 4.7x was in the pipeline... what happened so sudden?

I was going to ask something the same, is v4.71 safe to use? (you can get v4.71 here http://community.pmail.com/files/folders/mercbetas/default.aspx)

Interesting both Mercury AND PMail are no longer being made, some insight to this would be nice...

<p>I was going to ask something the same, is v4.71 safe to use? (you can get v4.71 here <a href="/files/folders/mercbetas/default.aspx" title="v4.71" target="_blank" mce_href="/files/folders/mercbetas/default.aspx">http://community.pmail.com/files/folders/mercbetas/default.aspx</a>) Interesting both Mercury AND PMail are no longer being made, some insight to this would be nice... </p>

This new annoncement from David was just published:

http://www.pmail.com/openletter.htm 

/Rolf 

<p>This new annoncement from David was just published:</p><p><a href="http://www.pmail.com/openletter.htm">http://www.pmail.com/openletter.htm</a> </p><p>/Rolf </p>

I've read the letter. I think Mr. Harris should think about a different development model - because I am not sure that a single developer can keep two products like Mercury and Pegasus Mail up to date fast enough to attract people willingly to pay for them, even a small amount, when free alternatives are "unluckily" available. One may get into the uncomfortable position where if he gives away software for free, people use it, as soon as a payment is requested, people migrate to other tools - just look at what had happened to development tools when IBM released Eclipse for free.

<P>I've read the letter. I think Mr. Harris should think about a different development model - because I am not sure that a single developer can keep two products like Mercury and Pegasus Mail up to date fast enough to attract people willingly to pay for them, even a small amount, when free alternatives are "unluckily" available. One may get into the uncomfortable position where if he gives away software for free, people use it, as soon as a payment is requested, people migrate to other tools - just look at what had happened to development tools when IBM released Eclipse for free.</P>

If it was me i would focus on Mercury only, with the introduction of Thunderbird and i have now seen the Zimbra desktop (not actually looked at Thunderbird email or Zimbra desktop) these are both email clients which would work well with Mercury robust server...

My personal view...

If it was me i would focus on Mercury only, with the introduction of Thunderbird and i have now seen the Zimbra desktop (not actually looked at Thunderbird email or Zimbra desktop) these are both email clients which would work well with Mercury robust server... My personal view...

[quote user="Rolf Lindby"]

This new annoncement from David was just published:

http://www.pmail.com/openletter.htm 

/Rolf 

[/quote]

Because Pegasus Mail and Mercury work so well, most users probably do not visit these forums and the main pmail.com site. Those that do visit the site are usually here because they are searching for a specific piece of information and will not casually browse the site, reading the news etc. This, I think, contributes to the possibility that the majority of your users are unaware of the huge amount of on-going commitment and the modest financial requirement that is essential if the programs are to survive.

One of the programs I use that connects to the Internet has an option that allows you to decide whether to allow the delivery of occassional items of news. These cover information such as updates, upgrades, offers etc. These take the form of automated pop-ups that briefly appear over the system tray. This allows the user to become more involved with the product and leads to all users using an up-to-date version of the program, and being aware of how the business is doing. Such a mechanism might be a useful addition to Pegasus Mail and Mercury/32.

Or, a voluntary registration option might be useful where users are sent an email after 6 months of use which asks for their support either as a one-off donation or as a yearly subscription.

I'm sure you've probably thought of these, but it seems to me that the lack of donations may be due to a lack of awareness as opposed to a lack of caring. People often need to be reminded that they are using free software. When such software proves its usefulness, many are willing to contribute.

[quote user="Rolf Lindby"] <P>This new annoncement from David was just published:</P> <P><A href="http://www.pmail.com/openletter.htm" mce_href="http://www.pmail.com/openletter.htm">http://www.pmail.com/openletter.htm</A> </P> <P>/Rolf </P> <P>[/quote]</P> <P>Because Pegasus Mail and Mercury work so well, most users probably do not visit these forums and the main pmail.com site. Those that do visit the site are usually here because they are searching for a specific piece of information and will not casually browse the site, reading the news etc. This, I think, contributes to the possibility that the majority of your users are unaware of the huge amount of on-going commitment and the modest financial requirement that is essential if the programs are to survive.</P> <P>One of the programs I use that connects to the Internet has an option that allows you to decide whether to allow the delivery of occassional items of news. These cover information such as updates, upgrades, offers etc. These take the form of automated pop-ups that briefly appear over the system tray. This allows the user to become more involved with the product and leads to all users using an up-to-date version of the program, and being aware of how the business is doing. Such a mechanism might be a useful addition to Pegasus Mail and Mercury/32.</P> <P>Or, a voluntary registration option might be useful where users are sent an email after 6 months of use which asks for their support either as a one-off donation or as a yearly subscription.</P> <P>I'm sure you've probably thought of these, but it seems to me that the lack of donations may be due to a lack of awareness as opposed to a lack of caring. People often need to be reminded that they are using free software. When such software proves its usefulness, many are willing to contribute.</P>

Mercury has a mechanism for making an announcement via the "Updates and

Advisory Notifications" in Mercury/32 to let Mercury admins know about the

"open letter to the community". At least, it appears to work.

Maybe David or whoever posts notifications to notify.pmail.com could post something that would at least go out to Mercury users.

I too believe that most Mercury and Pegasus users

are aware of the announcement.


<p>Mercury has a mechanism for making an announcement via the "Updates and Advisory Notifications" in Mercury/32 to let Mercury admins know about the "open letter to the community". At least, it appears to work. </p><p>Maybe David or whoever posts notifications to notify.pmail.com could post something that would at least go out to Mercury users. </p><p>I too believe that most Mercury and Pegasus users are aware of the announcement. </p><p> </p>

[quote user="TonyQuick"]

Mercury has a mechanism for making an announcement via the "Updates and

Advisory Notifications" in Mercury/32 to let Mercury admins know about the

"open letter to the community". At least, it appears to work.

Maybe David or whoever posts notifications to notify.pmail.com could post something that would at least go out to Mercury users.

[/quote]

I tend to be very careful about sending notifications via the Mercury notification service - I don't want to send anything that might annoy people and prevent them from using the facility, which I see as a crucial way of keeping paying customers up-to-date with release and security announcements. In this case, I'd have to think long and hard about whether this type of message qualified: it's quite possible to argue that it does, since it has a bearing on the future of the programs, but it also seems slightly wrong to send such a notice to people who by definition have already paid their pound of flesh.

In many ways, it's really the Mercury business model that has failed here: it was my expectation that going more commercial with Mercury (which after all is a more commercially-oriented product), the relative pittance I need to survive would be covered by Mercury licenses, but in truth, too few people have taken the hint and bought licenses for their Mercury installations (it appears that only around 1 in 500 people that downloads Mercury ends up purchasing a license, based on the Amazon download figures).

Cheers!

-- David --

[quote user="TonyQuick"]<p>Mercury has a mechanism for making an announcement via the "Updates and Advisory Notifications" in Mercury/32 to let Mercury admins know about the "open letter to the community". At least, it appears to work. </p><p>Maybe David or whoever posts notifications to notify.pmail.com could post something that would at least go out to Mercury users. </p>[/quote] I tend to be very careful about sending notifications via the Mercury notification service - I don't want to send anything that might annoy people and prevent them from using the facility, which I see as a crucial way of keeping paying customers up-to-date with release and security announcements. In this case, I'd have to think long and hard about whether this type of message qualified: it's quite possible to argue that it does, since it has a bearing on the future of the programs, but it also seems slightly wrong to send such a notice to people who by definition have already paid their pound of flesh. In many ways, it's really the Mercury business model that has failed here: it was my expectation that going more commercial with Mercury (which after all is a more commercially-oriented product), the relative pittance I need to survive would be covered by Mercury licenses, but in truth, too few people have taken the hint and bought licenses for their Mercury installations (it appears that only around 1 in 500 people that downloads Mercury ends up purchasing a license, based on the Amazon download figures). Cheers! -- David --

[quote user="TonyQuick"]

Mercury has a mechanism for making an announcement via the "Updates and Advisory Notifications" in Mercury/32 to let Mercury admins know about the "open letter to the community". At least, it appears to work.

Maybe David or whoever posts notifications to notify.pmail.com could post something that would at least go out to Mercury users.

I too believe that most Mercury and Pegasus users are aware of the announcement.


[/quote]

I work for a small charity and in the two years we have been using Mercury/32 we did not purchase a license because the program is free to use by charities. Without a license, the notifications are not available.

We, as a company, were completely unaware of the situation regarding the future development of the program. Coupled with David's statement that such a small number of subscribers exist, it is quite obvious that the majority of Mercury/32 (and Pegasus Mail) users are unaware of the announcement.

As soon as I saw the announcement I spoke with our Finance Dept. Once I explained how valuable Mercury/32 and Pegasus Mail were to us they readily agreed to the annual subscription.

I think that the support exists. You just need to let people know.

Facebook has a Save Pegasus Mail group comprising two members. Are any other social networking sites or IT forums being exploited to let people know about this announcement? Do any of the developers or beta testers promote Pegasus Mail or Mercury/32 via blogs or have social networking accounts?

[quote user="TonyQuick"] <P>Mercury has a mechanism for making an announcement via the "Updates and Advisory Notifications" in Mercury/32 to let Mercury admins know about the "open letter to the community". At least, it appears to work. </P> <P>Maybe David or whoever posts notifications to notify.pmail.com could post something that would at least go out to Mercury users. </P> <P>I too believe that most Mercury and Pegasus users are aware of the announcement. </P> <P> </P> <P>[/quote]</P> <P>I work for a small charity and in the two years we have been using Mercury/32 we did not purchase a license because the program is free to use by charities. Without a license, the notifications are not available.</P> <P>We, as a company, were completely unaware of the situation regarding the future development of the program. Coupled with David's statement that such a small number of subscribers exist, it is quite obvious that the majority of Mercury/32 (and Pegasus Mail) users <EM>are</EM> unaware of the announcement.</P> <P>As soon as I saw the announcement I spoke with our Finance Dept. Once I explained how valuable Mercury/32 and Pegasus Mail were to us they readily agreed to the annual subscription.</P> <P>I think that the support exists. You just need to let people know.</P> <P>Facebook has a Save Pegasus Mail group comprising two members. Are any other social networking sites or IT forums being exploited to let people know about this announcement? Do any of the developers or beta testers promote Pegasus Mail or Mercury/32 via blogs or have social networking accounts?</P>

I have just bought a 1-15 licence for Mercury 32, because after evaluation and with the general reputation of the product i thought it was MORE than worth the $75 it cost.

Let people know whats going on ...please!!  Its a great product, does exactly what it says on the tin and its well worth the money!! I've yet to come across another product that provides all of this functionality, even for $75!

Comprehensive documentation, good forum and community, product has both a simple gui and an underlying structure that allows for quite advanced emailing systems.

David Harris:-You have our full support for this product and we are willing and happy to committ to a regular maintenance payment to keep the product going.

Regards

Andy Taylor

For Eltek Ltd.

<P>I have just bought a 1-15 licence for Mercury 32, because after evaluation and with the general reputation of the product i thought it was MORE than worth the $75 it cost.</P> <P>Let people know whats going on ...please!!  Its a great product, does exactly what it says on the tin and its well worth the money!! I've yet to come across another product that provides all of this functionality, even for $75!</P> <P>Comprehensive documentation, good forum and community, product has both a simple gui and an underlying structure that allows for quite advanced emailing systems.</P> <P>David Harris:-You have our full support for this product and we are willing and happy to committ to a regular maintenance payment to keep the product going.</P> <P>Regards</P> <P>Andy Taylor</P> <P>For Eltek Ltd.</P>

An update on this: www.pmail.com reports that David Harris has now received about 600 replies out of the Thousand he asked for, and asks us to keep spreading the word.

I notice there are over 5000 registed members of this Forum but David's message is only available at www.pmail.com, not community.pmail com (home page of this forum) so many people may not have seen it.

When I sent my reply to David I suggested he makes his letter visible from the community home page, but this has not happened. I'm not sure if would have read all the 600 mails or just counted them.

<p>An update on this: www.pmail.com reports that David Harris has now received about 600 replies out of the Thousand he asked for, and asks us to keep spreading the word. </p><p>I notice there are over 5000 registed members of this Forum but David's message is only available at www.pmail.com, not community.pmail com (home page of this forum) so many people may not have seen it. </p><p>When I sent my reply to David I suggested he makes his letter visible from the community home page, but this has not happened. I'm not sure if would have read all the 600 mails or just counted them. </p>

Sorry, it's vacation time here hence updates are slow (using 56k modem ...) and we've seen a lot of annoying nonsense registrations last two weeks. Once I tried to mass-mail to all members, but the sql-procedure to do that failed (probably timed out). When the vacation period is over, I'll re-attempt to e-mail registered users with the latest updates, two releases and David's open letter.

<P>Sorry, it's vacation time here hence updates are slow (using 56k modem ...) and we've seen a lot of annoying nonsense registrations last two weeks. Once I tried to mass-mail to all members, but the sql-procedure to do that failed (probably timed out). When the vacation period is over, I'll re-attempt to e-mail registered users with the latest updates, two releases and David's open letter.</P>
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