Would you shell out some cash for Ubuntu?

[travislucas]

Just curious if Colonical in the near future was losing to much money to keep supporting Ubuntu with paid Developers, would any of you return the favor by shelling out some cash to get them in the black? Or would you just give it a once over and say they should have saw this coming?

I'd have to say for a company that hopes to make its revenue off support and not the operating system, it would get a few dollars from me, just for the simple fact that they have already shelled out millions to bring me a stable operating system that I haven't had to pay a dime for ;).

[Ub1476]

I would never buy Ubuntu from them, but maybe donate something, if it's getting bad.

[Sukarn]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=809089

I think I read it a couple of years ago that Ubuntu had a reserve of $10 million in case Canonical suddenly became unable to keep supporting Ubuntu.
However, if it does become pay-for only, then I won't be able to continue using Ubuntu. Also, I am sure that in that case a different OS like Mandriva or PCLOS or OpenSUSE or Fedora or something else would become more popular.

Lastly, I think that if Canonical suddenly decides to start selling Ubuntu, there will always be a free version alongside a paid-for enterprise edition (which is against their promise of always keeping all editions including enterprise editions free)

[Ub1476]

Well, Shuttleworth has used about 10-20 mill on Ubuntu now I think, and he has 600 millions (not that I'm saying he should use everything). His goal is probably to make Linux well known (Bug1), and be a part of doing it, but he needs profit if it's gotta be going. Red Hat has done it in the enterprise. Ubuntu can maybe do it for the average user. If they make some deals with Dell, Hp, Lenovo (already supports Suse) they will probably earn some cash.

[Raven_Oscar]

I would better donate Debian.

[Fedz]

Persoanl preference I suppose ...

I do on a weekly basis via paypal.

I appreciate the hard work and dedication given by all and my opinion is Ubuntu is worth paying for on a voluntary basis - fits my ethics ;-)

Besides, since installing Ubuntu the hardware that failed within windows sprang to life, so Ubuntu saved me money and hassle of getting what I thought was new hardware when really it was the OS ;-)

[Iceni]

I would. I would gladly pay for Ubuntu today. However I would probably not have been willing to pay when I didnt know it.

I'm also impressed with the hardware rescue stuff ubuntu has done for .. at least 3 computers so far:)

[samjh]

Depends on the price and the quality of competition (like every other purchase).

If Ubuntu is only slightly better or just equal to other distros, I'd just switch.

If Ubuntu was substantially better, I'd pay, but how much I'd pay depends on how much better it is.

:)

[gn2]

Once stand-by is working properly, then I'll happily pay.
It was working fine but a recent update broke it. Again.

As things stand (on my hardware at least) Ubuntu is not of merchantable quality.

[smoker]

donations are always welcome i believe, but ubuntu will never cost anything:
The Ubuntu promise



Ubuntu will always be free of charge, including enterprise releases and security updates.
Ubuntu comes with full commercial support from Canonical and hundreds of companies around the world.
Ubuntu includes the very best translations and accessibility infrastructure that the free software community has to offer.
Ubuntu CDs contain only free software applications; we encourage you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.


http://www.ubuntu.com/

[Joeb454]

Also it's Canonical, not Colonical ;)

And this has been discussed recently in a few other threads

[tom66]

If I could afford it. If not, I'd go to Fedora.

[dicecca112]

I'd gladly pay for shipping to have my cds get to me, would save Canonical some dough

[CSMatt]

Depends. If Ubuntu pulls a Linspire and starts offering proprietary software that is not necessary at all to run the system (already sort of happening with the inclusion of more restricted drivers just for Compiz effects), then no. However, if it remains committed to free software, then yes.

[justin whitaker]

donations are always welcome i believe, but ubuntu will never cost anything:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

That would not prevent them from offering Ubuntu Pro, a commercial version with support.

[samjh]

That would not prevent them from offering Ubuntu Pro, a commercial version with support.

Ubuntu the Linux distribution will always be free, according to project's promises.

Canonical already offers professional paid support for Ubuntu.

[@_R_|\/|_@_G_E_|)_|)_0|\|]

Also it's Canonical, not Colonical ;)

And this has been discussed recently in a few other threads

And a few polls!:KS

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=809089

That was actually made by me!:-\"

Armageddon

[Sukarn]

And a few polls!:KS

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=809089

That was actually made by me!:-\"

Armageddon

I linked to that thread in post #3 but it seems like no one noticed, or else no one wanted to comment on it.

At least you didn't notice.

[jgrabham]

Erm... its open source - if you had to pay for it, somebody would just get the source code, compile it and chuck it on a server somewhere - look up CentOS.

[spamzilla]

If I had to pay for Ubuntu, I'd either install XP (*puts pirate hat on* ;)) or find another free linux distro. As much as I like Ubuntu, there is no way I'd pay for an OS which lacks decent driver / hardware / game / general support.