Hello CDROM-drive owner!

This is a small text to enlighten some things about the new Aminet-CD!

Approximately at the same time with the publishing of the "Meeting Pearls
Vol. 1" CD there will also be a new Aminet-CD from the same producer,
Stefan Ossowski Schatztruhe GmbH, Germany. This text was written to inform
the user about Aminet an the Aminet-CDs and what it is all about.

Aminet is a connection of different computers, that can communicate and
exchange data using the Internet network, which is offered by Universities
and companies throughout the whole world. A very large number of programmers
of freely distributable software use this network to distribute their
programs. So you can find the newest version of many programs on Aminet.

There were several long discussions going on before this new Aminet-CD
came to reality - all centered around the main question, how one can
produce a CD and distribute it and:
  a) support the Aminet, for example with Hardware.
  b) keep the administrators working by some monetary donations and maybe
     motivate them even more.
  c) not to take the programmers of the software on Aminet for a ride by
     distributing their programs in a commercial (profit oriented) way.
  d) to try to give you, the user, a solution that you can be as happy as
     possible with.

There were two possible variants in the discussion: one, with a price tag
of US $ 12 (DM 19,80),where there would be no direct monetary support for
the Aminet, and one with a price tag of US $18 (DM 29,80), where a small
part of the US $ 6 price increase would support the Aminet and its
administrators, but the larger part would go to the dealers, the state
(in Germany there are 15 % trade tax - that is almost one US dollar!) etc.
because most of them get their share as a fixed percentage of the price
and would therefore gain their own profit of the price increase.

The advantages of the US $ 12 variant are:
  - the low price.
  - in general the striving for a CD with a price tag of US $ 12, which
    would result in a larger installed base of CDROM drives, which would
    in turn result in higher volumes in the production of CDs and maybe
    again in a lower price.
  - not to give more money than absolutely necessary to the dealers, the
    state etc..
  - that more software authors would be willing to release their programs
    for it.
  - to have a kind of 'pressure' in the market that will result in more
    cheap CDs with all the advantages mentioned above.

The advantages of the US $ 18 variant are:
  - a steady income for Aminet and its administrators.
  - more expensive CDs appear to be more "professional".

After some intense pro and contra arguments the following solution has
been developed that should satisfy all different fractions:

There will be two CDs with exactly the same content but different cover.
One will be called "Aminet Gold" and will cost US $ 18, from which a
certain share  will go to the administrators and the Aminet. The other CD
will be called "Aminet Share" and will cost US $ 12. As a regular user of
the latter and if you like the way the compilation was assembled, you are
asked to donate an amount to a special account. All of this money (minus
the fee to transfer it) will reach Aminet and the administrators.

It is your decision, whether you buy the more expensive CD and
simultaneously, very comfortable, support the administrators and the Aminet
itself and - in a much larger scale - the dealers, the state, etc., or
whether you buy the cheaper variant with the less "golden" name and - if
you like the way it is assembled - to donate to one of several accounts
in different countries. Which ever way you choose, you ONLY pay for the
assembling of the CD and the "maintenance" of the Aminet, NOT for the
software that is contained in the compilation, which probably represents
several thousand years of hard labor of the programmers.

The content of both CDs is *exactly* the same - they correspond up to the
last single bit! If your dealer does not carry the variant that you would
like to buy in stock, speak to him about your wish! Tell him the facts (the
CDs are absolutely identical!). If he is still not able (willing) to
provide the Aminet-CD that you prefer, you can always order from:

  Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe GmbH
  Veronikastraße 33
  45131 Essen
  Deutschland
  Tel.: 0201/788778
  Fax:  0201/798447

who always carries both variants and tell him that you could not get it
elsewhere, because he, the producer, has decided to distribute both
variants to exactly corresponding conditions.

I - for my personal use - am going to buy the cheaper variant, because
I do not want that all the middlemen and dealers involved etc. make too
much profit with this CD, that contains only freely distributable software,
from which most programs are only released for non-commercial distribution.

Who now thinks that Aminet Gold, which will be available as subscription
for US $ 15, is a great deal, is wrong! While the administrators and
Aminet get US $ 2 (according to Urban Dominik Müller) per single sold
Aminet Gold CD, they renounce a "quite considerable part of this sum"
(original statement of the producer) from subscribed Aminet Gold CDs. That
means the rest, which still reaches Aminet, is plain less than $ US 2, so
you seriously should think about subscribing Aminet Gold CDs. In my
opinion, it is much better to subscribe Aminet Share and pay some
shareware donation for it!

I do hope that this helps to sort out some of the confusion that will arise
in the future... :-)

Angela Schmidt