cost of ubuntu

[windowless]

Just a quick question .Would you pay for ubuntu. What would be a fair price?

[kpholmes]

29.99 that came with a years worth of support. other then that, 0

[jnorthr]

naw , cos then it would be owned a dude in a suit who wants to sell you pink tennis shoes too... :P

[cguy]

No.
I like being able to install it anytime and anywhere without restrictions and without a fee.

Is it worth paying for? Of course, but I wouldn't do it.

[xArv3nx]

well, i'd at least put up $30 for the codecs in the ubuntu store..

[lisati]

Opinion: even without the need to pay a fee, there's often a cost. For me, it's coming by the forums most days and seeing if there's a discussion or question where I might be able to make some kind of response.

[kpholmes]

Opinion: even without the need to pay a fee, there's often a cost. For me, it's coming by the forums most days and seeing if there's a discussion or question where I might be able to make some kind of response.

ya but for some of us we consider that fun.

[TheNessus]

Whatever market-value it would have.

[Regenweald]

I would. 50$ Is a fair price to me for a one time fee. Lifetime License :P ?

[AlphaLexman]

I appreciate that linux, ubuntu and other distros are free of charge, however I do appreciate the value of the time, effort and dedication to provide such a software system. What it is worth and what one would pay, is the economics of supply and demand. Obviously supply and demand still allows linux, ubuntu and other distros to be free of charge. Free as in freedom vs. free beer.

Basically the OP is asking, how much would you pay for a free beer?

The value of the beer or software must outway the cost before you won't pay for it anymore. That may be an individual line in the sand or it maybe zero moneys, depending on the person.

I personally believe that I am getting much more than my money's worth (zero/free) for the (ubuntu) OS I have installed. It is stable, reliable, and most of all custumizable. I do dual boot to Win XP, I have propriatary software on my machine, and it all works together.

If it came to the point (which I don't think it will, I would actually pay for linux, ubuntu or another distro if laws and companies demanded.

So in theory I would pay 25 - 50 cents (US) for a free beer!

[gletob]

Would I buy it if it, if it just started to cost money? Yes

Would I have tried it out in the first place if it had cost money? No.

[NullHead]

I'd pay $20

[windowless]

Great answers I was wondering what other people thought.You are right I myself would not have tried ubuntu if it costs $.I love the forum and sense of community spirit.

[mamamia88]

i would probably pay $50 if they gave free updates. it should be like a one time fee you pay and then you download as many times as you want.

[NullHead]

If I had to pay $50 for it, and if I had never used it before, I would want good advertising, product demonstration on pre-setup computers, the ability to get service to the OS from authorized retailers and a longer release cycle. Then, and only then, would I buy it off the shelf with out ever using it before.

[-grubby]

If I wanted to use Ubuntu, but it cost money, I'd probably just use another distro.

[mog538]

I'm another one in the camp of "wouldn't have tried it if it cost initially".

From now on I'm going to purchase a pack of CD's from Canonical to contribute something to Canonical and to, hopefully, promote Ubuntu more with the official printed discs giving a more professional product to entice people.

[lisati]

ya but for some of us we consider that fun.

True, but it still takes time, and Mrs Lisati sometimes likes to receive my full attention.

[AlphaLexman]

Yeah, and my point, along with the OP, is once you know the value of the software before you got it for free, what would you pay?

A drug dealer will always give you your first addiction for free...

Then you have to pay for it!

I know it's a bad analogy. but once you're addicted to linux, ubuntu or another distro, what would you pay?

[mivo]

Opinion: even without the need to pay a fee, there's often a cost.

This. I spent dozens of hours to get stuff working properly on my desktop and laptop. Just getting wireless to work took much work, research and time. Time isn't free to me.

[juancarlospaco]

300 u$s...
:)

[Warpnow]

I've been toying with the idea of trying to produce an at-cost or nearly at-cost burning service since shipit setup a limit.

If I produce 10 a week and ship them out, I will be dead even after a year if I charge $2.51 including shipping in the US.

If I could produce in alot higher quantities, such as 100 a week, I could get price down to $1.21 a cd to break even.

However, this is all hypothetical and for all practical reasons impossible. I would realistically need to charge $3 or so per CD to ensure the ability to keep the operation running. A price that I've decided would likely be too high. I don't think people would pay $3 for a burnt CD of a linux distribution. Or, at least, enough people wouldn't for the operation to exist.

The real problem is that to build a computer with 5 DVD burners and a raided hard drive (I do not want to lose all my ISOs) it would cost ~$750. I would also like to use lightscribe media instead of traditional printing as it would be cheaper when dealing in small batches (ie lower fixed costs), and I also don't believe software exists to write 5 lightscribe labels at the same time, meaning doing each one would make the process much slower to label them.

If I did no label I could actually pull the cost down a lot. I could pull the cost per CD down to under $1 including shipping, which is my ideal price...but I would have to either ship out alot of CDs, ie over 100 per week, or cut the cost of hardware down in order to ensure sustainability.

Obviously I've given this alot of thought.

Of course, when it comes down to it...I have my doubts that many people at all would pay for something they can freely download. Broadband is just too easily accessible now.

[samh785]

Would I pay for Ubuntu if it cost money, and how much? Hmm... I think I would pay $15 for it in it's current state. However, if it DID cost money I seriously doubt it would be anything like what it is today (much smaller community, might have never even taken off in the first place, etc.). I prefer to keep it the way it is, because I'm happy right here. :)

[Ewingo401]

I couldn't see myself paying money for Ubuntu. But at the same time I wouldn't have a problem making a donation to the cause.

[jfloydb]

If computers were sold dead (that is, without an OS), and the operating system had to be purchased separately, I might be willing to pay up to 1/2 the price of a Windows or Mac OS for an Ubuntu OS. Given that choice, I probably would (for economic reasons) buy the Ubuntu option. So the market would determine what I might pay for Ubuntu.

[speedwell68]

When I first tried Linux it was Suse 6.4 and it cost me £29 from Staples, that was many years ago and TBH I felt robbed. Now if today I was asked to stump up my hard earned dosh for a product of Ubuntu's quality, then I probably would. I certainly would if it was done on a the shareware basis of 'try before you buy'.

[PorkyPie]

I'd pay €200 for ubuntu! It's that good! But... don't be getting any ideas of making people pay for it :P

[Странник]

Cost is prohibitive . I would not pay