Re: memberships

[M. Lang / S. Railsback]

glen e. p. ropella wrote:
> 
> It looks to me like we have somewhere between 200 and
> 300 participants in the Swarm community.  And yet we only
> have 6 members:

May I also suggest that Swarm users pause for a moment and think about
what it would cost them to NOT have Swarm...(or for Swarm to go away)...
(or, perhaps worst of all, for Marcus and the rest of SDG to go away).

When we were shopping for modeling software, the main alternatives to
Swarm we found was MODSIM, which CACI licenses for something like
$20,000; and FACET, which is licensed for around $30,000 plus the cost
of a SPARC station to run it. Which is probably still less than the cost
of having to develop our code from scratch. My sponsors were happy to
cover the cost of a Swarm membership, and I don't think they are any
more generous than other underfunded government agencies. We're also
including memberships as part of the budget in future proposals.

Think of SDG as a co-op where everyone needs to contribute a little and
we all get a lot back.

Steve
-- 
address@hidden
Lang, Railsback & Assoc.
250 California Ave., Arcata CA 95521
707-822-0453; Fax 822-1868

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