Be Developer Program
Developer Program Q&A
This document contains answers to common questions that people may have about the new Be Developer Programs. We hope we've covered everything, but let us know if you have other questions, by sending them to devprograms@be.com.
General Questions about Be's New Developer Programs
- Why should I develop for Be?
- Why should I join a Be developer program?
- Why is Be changing their developer programs?
- What are the new developer programs?
- What are all of the available developer program features?
- What do the different programs cost?
- What other things do I have to pay for?
- How do I join one of the new programs?
- What are the effects of the new program?
- Why is Be charging money for the developer program?
- But! But! But -- I never use to have to pay to develop for the BeOS!
- What happened to Be's philosophy that "developers are partners, not customers"?
- Is the Enthusiast just a fake option? Do I get anything but access to the Be web site, which anyone can get?
- When does the new program take effect?
- If I don't sign up for a paid program membership, and just keep my original program benefits until they run out, which upgrades to the BeOS will I get for free?
- I'm a developer in Europe or Asia, how will the new programs affect my current developer status?
- Who can I contact to give feedback regarding the new developer programs?
Questions about the Transition Process
- How is Be transitioning existing developers into the new programs?
- Will my current Developer ID and password remain the same?
- If I don't want to pay for a developer program membership, can I still get CodeWarrior?
- If I don't want to pay for a developer program membership, can I still get PackageBuilder?
Questions about Hardware Discounts
- Which developer programs get hardware discounts?
- How much are the discounts worth?
- I'm a European (or Pacific Rim, etc.) developer. Is there a way for me to take advantage of the hardware discount in my developer program membership?
Questions about Technical Support
- If I pay for either the Small Developer or Corporate memberships, will I get better technical support?
- What is Be doing to improve developer technical support?
- If I don't want to pay for a developer program membership, can I still get developer technical support?
- Why doesn't Be offer developer technical support over the phone?
- How do I submit bugs?
- Do I have to be a developer to submit bugs?
- Will I be charged to submit bug reports?
- Will bugs submitted by a paying developer be treated differently?
Other Questions
- How does Be's new programs compare to other developer programs?
- Didn't Be learn anything from another developer's recent program changes?
- What are the development options for students and other people on a budget?
- Is there an education discount for Be products and programs?
General Questions about Be's Developer Programs
Q: Why should I develop for Be?
A: We're glad you asked that question! We've written about this topic extensively; please see the Why Be white paper for a thorough answer to this important (and very valid) question.
Q: Why should I join a Be developer program?
A: The highlight of our fee-based programs is unlimited technical support from Be's Developer Technical Support group. We know that developers need access to technical support throughout the development process, and our new programs ensure highly responsive support.
Additionally, the two programs which have a cost associated with them include a complete BeOS development environment. Acquiring these tools separately used to cost more than the cost of joining these programs.
We've worked very hard on the new developer programs, and we believe that they offer developers considerable value for their money, while at the same time allowing developers to choose how much support they need from Be.
Hobbyist and cost-conscious developers have a variety of materials and services available from Be's online channels, while developers working on commercial software will find our paid programs to offer software and assistance of considerably greater value than the cost of those programs.
Finally, becoming a registered developer let's us find out more about you, so that we can better serve the needs of our developers. If we don't know who you are, we can't help you!
Q: Why is Be changing their developer program?
A: Be considers its developers partners in delivering a new level of personal computer performance and functionality, because it is developers' products that really bring an operating system to life.
That's why we've restructured the previous general program into three segmented, tiered programs -- to serve our developer-partners better by letting them choose the level of support they need from Be, and to provide better support and value for our developers who plan to ship commercial products.
Although two of the three developer program memberships have a cost associated with them, they represent good value, providing services, software and discounts in excess of their cost. And we believe that by focusing our efforts, we can provide excellent support to those developers who need it.
Q: What are the new developer program levels?
A: The new Be Developer Program has three levels:
Q: What are all of the available developer program features?
A: Please see the Developer Program Datasheet for a listing of all of the different benefits available to Be developers, and which developer programs include them.
Q: What do the different programs cost?
A: The annual enrollment fee for the three programs is as follows:
- Enthusiasts Program -- No charge.
- Small Developer Program -- US$299
- Corporate Program -- US$599
Q: What other things do I have to pay for?
A: There are no "pay as you go" services in any of the Be developer programs. In particular, you don't need to worry about running out of technical support incidents. Unlimited technical support is a part of both paid developer programs.
Other than additional development "seats", or extra copies of the BeOS, there's really nothing left to pay for.
Q: How do I join one of the new programs?
A: Simple! If you are already a registered Be developer, visit the Developer Program Migration page to learn how you can join one of the new programs when your existing membership ends on January 5, 1999.
If you are new to the Be Developer program, visit our Program Descriptions page instead, and choose a program level. Then just click the "Join Now!" link at the bottom of the page to sign up.
Q: What are the effects of the new programs?
A: For developers who are interested in having the latest release of the BeOS, access to developer technical support, the latest development tools and hardware discounts, being a Be developer actually becomes cheaper. The Small Developer and Corporate programs represents considerable savings over what the individual software components cost, while in addition providing prioritized developer support, hardware discounts, and access to additional Be resources.
Q: Why is Be charging money for the developer program?
A: The developer programs which have a cost, the Small Developer and Corporate programs, include an unlimited amount of developer technical support. They also include a significant amount of software (and other benefits), which has a greater value than the cost of the program. In essence, we are packaging that software up, along with technical and marketing support, and offering it at a discount.
Be recently acquired StarCode Software and responsibility for maintaining and updating the Be IDE. We're charging to recover the costs of engineering, but far less was previously charged, and than we would if we were trying to be a tools company.
Q: But! But! But -- I never use to have to pay to develop for the BeOS!
A: While this is true for those people who used only the limited CodeWarrior linker, which was bundled with the BeOS, a serious BeOS developer needs the unlimited CodeWarrior tools. Until very recently, the unlimited version of CodeWarrior cost $300 from Metrowerks.
The Small Developer program costs the same amount, but offers CodeWarrior, BeOS CDs, PackageBuilder, technical and marketing support from Be, access to BeDepot.com, hardware and BeDC discounts, and more.
The Corporate program costs more, but offers even more benefits, including discounts on additional BeOS development seats (which used to be over $300 each), intensive technical and marketing support, and other benefits whose value greatly exceeds the cost of the program.
Recent changes made by Be in the distribution and pricing of the various BeOS development tools -- CodeWarrior, the BeOS, PackageBuilder -- all represent an overall reduction in cost to developers.
Q: What happened to Be's philosophy that "developers are partners, not customers"?
A: We still firmly believe that our developers are our partners, not customers. Every change we made to the developer program is designed to improve the quality of the products and services that registered Be developers receive from Be. We believe that in all three developer program tiers, the value of the products and services greatly exceeds their cost to developers.
Hobbyist and part-time programmers still have a low-cost option, while developers who are committed to shipping commercial software receive a professional development environment and other tools, and have access to intensive technical and marketing support -- all at a lower cost than such tools and support cost previously.
Q: Is the Enthusiast just a fake option? Do I get anything but access to the Be web site, which anyone can get?
A: The Enthusiast tier does indeed offer real benefits, including mailings from Be, upgrade pricing on the BeOS, and the ability to add items to the BeWare online software catalog.
Q: When does the new program take effect?
A: The new programs are available immediately to new developers. However, all registered developers who joined the program before May 31, 1998 will remain in the original developer program, and will retain all of their developer benefits, until January 5, 1999. Additionally:
- Current Registered Be Developers who bought CodeWarrior from
Metrowerks in the last few months are still owed one more CW
upgrade. These developers will be directly enrolled in the
Small Developers Program for free for a year (from June 1, 1998
to June 1, 1999).
- Current Registered Be Developers who bought CodeWarrior from
Be in the last few weeks will be directly enrolled in the
Small Developers Program for free for a year (from June 1, 1998
to June 1, 1999) as well.
- Current registered Be Developers who bought CodeWarrior
(either from Metrowerks or from Be) will be enrolled
automatically into the Small Developers Program. If, however,
they wish to upgrade to the Corporate Program the enrollment
fee for the Corporate Program will be $300 (or the fee for
the Corporate Program ($599) minus the fee for the
Small Developers Program ($299).
- Current registered Be Developers who are enrolled automatically into the Small Developers Program can upgrade to the Corporate Program. The enrollment fee for the Corporate Program will be $300 (or the fee for the Corporate Program ($599) minus the fee for the Small Developers Program ($299). After June, the cost to upgrade will be prorated based on the number of months remaining in your Small Developer program membership. See _Question 18_ for details.
Q: If I don't sign up for a paid program membership, and just keep my original program benefits until they run out, which upgrades to the BeOS will I get for free?
A: Current Registered Be Developers will retain their original program benefits until January 5, 1999. Developers should receive Release 4 in Fall of 1998, well before the expiration of original program benefits. Release 5 will ship after the expiration of current program benefits; developers who do not renew their memberships will not receive it for free.
Q: I'm a developer in Europe or Asia, how will the new programs affect my current developer status?
A: Other than differences imposed by currency and tax issues, Be's developer programs are the same world-wide.
The primary differences are that European developers will be charged VAT as required by their countries' laws, and that hardware discounts are available only in the US.
Q: Who can I contact to give feedback regarding the new developer programs?
A: We would be delighted to receive any feedback or answer any additional questions you might have. Please send your comments and questions to us at devprograms@be.com.
Questions about the Transition Process
Q: How is Be transitioning existing developers into the new programs?
A: Be will be sending a detailed e-mail message to every registered developer, explaining both the program changes in general, and how the changes affect them specifically.
All existing registered developers will remain in the original developer program, and will retain all of their developer benefits, until January 5, 1999. Additionally:
- Current Registered Be Developers who bought CodeWarrior from
Metrowerks in the last few months are still owed one more CW
upgrade. These developers will be directly enrolled in the
Small Developers Program for free for a year (from June 1, 1998
to June 1, 1999).
- Current Registered Be Developers who bought CodeWarrior from Be in the last few weeks will be directly enrolled in the Small Developers Program for free for a year (from June 1, 1998 to June 1, 1999) as well.
Q: Will my current Developer ID and password remain the same?
A: Yes, absolutely.
Q: If I don't want to pay for a developer program membership, can I still get CodeWarrior?
A: Absolutely, you can order it for $129 via the Be web site:
www.be.com/purchase/ordering/beos_order_form.html
Q: If I don't want to pay for a developer program membership, can I still get PackageBuilder?
A: Be is committed to making PackageBuilder the definitive distribution and installation tool for the BeOS. All registered Be developers receive a commercial distribution license for PackageBuilder, allowing them to distribute freeware, shareware, and commercial software built with this outstanding tool.
Questions about Hardware Discounts
Q: Which developer programs get hardware discounts?
A: Both paid developer programs receive hardware discounts.
Q: How much are the discounts worth?
A: The discounts generally represent a 10% reduction in cost from otherwise "best price" avenues of getting the same hardware. This quickly becomes real money.
For example, the Ming Special #3, a loaded dual-processor Pentium II 300 MHz system, receives a discount of around $200 (at the time of this writing). The savings from buying two machines almost pays for the cost of a Small Developers program membership.
Q: I'm a European (or Pacific Rim, etc.) developer. Is there a way for me to take advantage of the hardware discount in my developer program membership.
A: We wish it were otherwise, but the complexities of various tax, shipping, and export restrictions make it impossible to offer the hardware discount to non-US developers. Simply put, all of the overhead takes away the savings.
Questions about Technical Support
Q: If I pay for either the Small Developers or Corporate program, will I get better technical support?
A: Yes, absolutely. Only the Small Developers and Corporate program members can submit requests to our Developer Technical Support group, and we intend to improve the level of responsiveness of the DTS group to those requests. Both paid programs include unlimited DTS technical support via our online mechanisms.
Q: What is Be doing to improve developer technical support?
A: Be recently put the finishing touches on our new DTS database system, which allows us to track problem submissions much better than our e-mail system does now.
Initial incident reports are submitted via a web form and go directly into the database. Follow-up is done via e-mail to and from the developer. By managing incidents using the database Be can ensure timely responses. The database also tracks the entire history of a developer's correspondence with Be, so that information can be preserved and used to more quickly solve future incidents.
Additionally, we're hiring additional DTS engineers, including industry/category specialists. Combining these things, we are confident that our DTS support is going to be even better than it has been in the past.
Q: If I don't want to pay for a developer program membership, can I still get developer technical support?
A: You can get technical support via a variety of mechanisms, including the mailing lists Be maintains for developers, BeDevTalk and BeCodeTalk (Be engineers read and respond to postings here), the comp.sys.be.programmer news group, and the various developer resources Be makes available via our web site:
www.be.com/developers/index.html
However, only Small Developers and Corporate program members will be able to submit requests to our Developer Technical Support group.
Q: Why doesn't Be offer developer technical support over the phone?
A: Given our existing resources, it is impossible to provide developer technical support via the phone. All DTS incidents must start via one of our online avenues. Be DTS engineers may, and very often do, call developers to discuss the case over the phone.
A: Using the Bug Form on the Be web site:
http://www.be.com/developers/bugs/bugform.html
Q: Do I have to be a developer to submit bugs?
A: No, anyone can submit a bug or a feature request using this form.
Q: Will I be charged to submit bug reports?
A: No.
Q: Will bugs submitted by a paying developer be treated differently?
A: Bugs submitted as part of a DTS request will be treated differently, in that the DTS engineer handling the incident will make every effort to provide a workaround for genuine bugs, as well as adding them to our internal bug tracking database to be fixed in a future release. But we take all bug reports seriously, and try to fix every bug reported to us.
Other Questions
Q: How does Be's new programs compare to other developer programs?
A: Be's programs are extremely affordable, and are much lower in cost than comparable programs from any other desktop operating system vendor we know of.
Additionally, we believe the number one benefit we can give our developers is timely and thorough responses to the developer technical support questions. For that reason both of our paid programs include unlimited DTS support. We are the only desktop operating system vendor we know of that does this.
Q: Didn't Be learn anything from another developer's recent program changes?
A: We hope so! The biggest difference in Be's new programs is that the cost of being a developer goes *down* for professional and commercial developers, while the amount and level of support goes *up*.
The single largest complaint people had with recent changes in another developer program was that developers in existing programs were being converted to the new programs, and in many cases fairly abruptly losing access to program features (like hardware discounts) they had paid for.
Be is instead keeping all existing developers in the original developer program, preserving all existing benefits. Developers existing program memberships will remain in effect for well over six months, until January 5, 1999. This should give all existing developers plenty of access to the program benefits to which they are accustomed, and to which Be committed.
Q: What are the development options for students and other people on a budget?
A: At the present time, CodeWarrior Lite comes bundled with the BeOS. This product should be sufficient to handle the needs of student projects.
However, with the transition to the Intel Architecture (and the non-patented, relatively standard PE executable format), we are confident that free development tools like gcc (and an appropriate linker) will become available for the BeOS, which should be capable of handling even professional needs in a free package.
Q: Is there an education discount for Be products and programs?
A: Not at the present time, but we're looking into it.
