Is this legal? or ethical?, bad taste?, or just profitable?

[Panhead Bill]

Found this on Ebay today, someone selling disks of Ubuntu:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Linux-XP-Ubuntu-Best-Linux-OS-Dual-Boot-with-Windows_W0QQitemZ7246704828QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4188 8QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[FISHERMAN]

AFAIK it is legal because you can sell free software(a lot of people sell FOSS and ask money for it:shipping/burningCD costs, support,...).
Though this could also be a joke.

[Panhead Bill]

No joke. This merchant is selling a version of Ubuntu on Ebay. It struck me as at least in bad taste.

[az]

Found this on Ebay today, someone selling disks of Ubuntu:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Linux-XP-Ubuntu-Best-Linux-OS-Dual-Boot-with-Windows_W0QQitemZ7246704828QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4188 8QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Legal? Sure!

Ethical? Sure! Is someone pointing a gun to your head, forcing you to buy it?

Bad taste? I'm not one to say.

Profitable? Probably not very. You may make more money selling support to people in your area than selling cds on ebay. Does anyone make money from ebay?

[meng]

It's a steep price for shipping. Also the use of the term "Linux XP" is misleading, since there is a separate distribution called Linux XP, although I am led to believe it is awful.

[Simian]

I don't like the way the have called it, "Ubuntu XP"

[aysiu]

In principle, there's nothing wrong with charging money for Ubuntu, especially if your target audience is users without internet access (or on dial-up). The free Ubuntu ShipIt CDs can take two months or longer to arrive.

How much your charge is where the ethics come into play.

[az]

$7.95 is not that much for an ebay purchase's shipping.

That's part of the game.

[IYY]

RMS used to charge for Emacs when he first released it, even though it was free and open source.

... but selling Ubuntu CDs on Ebay for anything higher than just the shipping price is just rude.

[aysiu]

By the way, they're now selling Ubuntu DVDs on Amazon. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G62IDU/qid=1149785243/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-0245541-9835828?s=software&v=glance&n=229534)

[meng]

$7.95 is not that much for an ebay purchase's shipping.
I don't dispute that. But in the overall scheme of things, it's daylight robbery!

[skippy81]

I cant see anthing wrong with what the guy is doing to be honest. He has found a way of making money while at the same time promoting Linux.

The fact that ShipIt exists further justifies what he is doing. Anyone who is interested in Ubuntu can easily go to the website. They will then have a choice between

1) Free CDs sent to their door, but a long wait.
2) Free download
3) Paying to have CDs delivered quickly.

Its good that their are different ways of obtaining ubuntu, and I think that anything that gets Windows XP users switching is a good thing.

I do think calling it "Ubuntu Linux XP" is probably legally dodgy, but I think his aim is to get hits from XP searches rather than to confuse people.

[az]

The second linux distro that I ever installed was bought over the net. Three cds for 5 bucks each! That's 15USD! But at the time I had no cd burner and just dialup access.

The site is still there - google "computer helper guy" It's a seriously geeky experience! They still sell debian potato!

[beast2k]

If you think about it this is going to start happening more and more as linux becomes more popular. More and more people will "jump on the bandwagon" to try to make a quick buck from linux. There are alot of very smart marketing people out there so it is only going to get more interesting as linux becomes more popular I cant wait for the rush to linux after vista is released LOL

[?????]

That auction is under the WinXP category... The auction makes some people think it is related to M$ or Windoze XP.

[richbarna]

I think it says "Linux Xp + Ubuntu Bonus CD" to do a dual boot.
If you look right at the bottom of the page.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7246686196&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_ReBay_Pr4_PcY_BIN_IT

[Ubunted]

These kinds of auction pages are an insult to Ubuntu, GNU/Linux in general and human intelligence.

[aysiu]

These kinds of auction pages are an insult to Ubuntu, GNU/Linux in general and human intelligence.
Why?

Let's say you have dial-up and you want to install Ubuntu within the next month and a half. What do you do?

[Ubunted]

You have a friend burn and send it to you, spend a night downloading it or buy them off eBay.

But if you're SELLING them, making vague and dubious claims ("Faster then(sic) Linux XP"? What the hell does that mean?), messing up 3rd-grade English skills (then != than) and starting the whole thing off titled "Ubuntu Linux XP 2006" just screams unprofessionalism.

Then again, most eBay auctions remind me of 8-year-olds advertsing a lemonade stand or gas chains marketing high-octane gas as "a treat for your engine" so maybe my standards just aren't low enough.

[aysiu]

But if you're SELLING them, making vague and dubious claims ("Faster then(sic) Linux XP"? What the hell does that mean?), messing up 3rd-grade English skills (then != than) and starting the whole thing off titled "Ubuntu Linux XP 2006" just screams unprofessionalism. Ah, good point.

At this point, I'd encourage people to buy Ubuntu DVDs off Amazon, as the DVD has more stuff than the CD, and the profits go to Canonical instead of some shady individual.