Would you pay $20 for Ubuntu??

[zeealpal]

I was thinking... would you guys buy an Ubuntu DVD for $20 if it came with:

All the Codecs (Including Encrypted DVD enabled) - the cost of liscensing the codecs would be included with the $20

Adobe Flash, Reader ect...

The propriety drivers for a large range of the nVidia and ATI Cards on the DVD, so when one installs Ubuntu, the drivers are automatically installed.

Extra drivers for other hardware that cannot be included on a CD for space reasons.

And finally, extra applications to use the extra DVD space... Such as put GIMP back on, Blender3D etc... not too many, but some.

Any ideas?? Would you buy it? If it included postage and handling??

[swoll1980]

If I had to pay $20 to use Ubuntu I would pay it in a heart beat. I would pay $100 for it if I had to. They would have to let me upgrade for several years though of course. Would I pay $20 knowing I don't have to? No.

[zeealpal]

If I had to pay $20 to use Ubuntu I would pay it in a heart beat. I would pay $100 for it if I had to. They would have to let me upgrade for several years though of course. Would I pay $20 knowing I don't have to? No.

Ahh ok, the idea that for a new user, they wouldnt have to worry about setting up any of the things to get Ubuntu to a useable state.. flash, codecs, dvd encryption GPU drivers etc... for any advanced users, they could still download ubuntu, just without them included. Also paying for the Codecs would remove any legal issues...

[toyoracer]

If I had to pay $20 to use Ubuntu I would pay it in a heart beat. I would pay $100 for it if I had to. They would have to let me upgrade for several years though of course. Would I pay $20 knowing I don't have to? No.

I am still new but so far I 2nd all the way.

Read your 2nd post, not because of setting up but for all the work that has gone into Linux as a whole. I am just testing Ubuntu now and find the setup helpful in the learning curve of something new. Maybe just donate to Linux.

[themarker0]

Yup. I already order the CD, i'm gonna buy support later on to help.

[swoll1980]

Ahh ok, the idea that for a new user, they wouldnt have to worry about setting up any of the things to get Ubuntu to a useable state.. flash, codecs, dvd encryption GPU drivers etc... for any advanced users, they could still download ubuntu, just without them included. Also paying for the Codecs would remove any legal issues...

They would. Hardest part about that would be convincing someone who has never used it that it's worth $20. If they knew how great it was, say their buddy has it or whatever. I could see people paying $20 for it.

[NightwishFan]

It is not paying I mind it is freedom. If Ubuntu charged money someone would just take the whole thing and repackage it for free. However charging for install media and services I would gladly pay.

I hope Canonical makes a boxed DVD like Novell does, with a great installer, choose between Gnome KDE XFCE LXDE (depending on space). Get common software for each, and a nice printed manual. I would pay around 100 for that and I would buy two if it were less and give one as a gift. The software center could be set up to recognize the media and give it a cool icon then enable it as a software source for your installed Ubuntu. If not every 6 months perhaps every LTS they do the DVD?

I could finally look forward to a nice software package.

[uljanow]

I would donate to various projects but not pay 20$ for a Ubuntu DVD. Even if you buy that DVD you would probably download hundreds of MB of updates during the first installation.

[Crunchy the Headcrab]

No. I would jump ship. I quite like Fedora.

I have considered buying the codecs, but being forced to buy them in order to use Ubuntu doesn't fit well with me.

[Linuxforall]

I will pay more with a smile. I paid for my SuSE and Mandriva discs.

[Lightstar]

I would "donate" but not "purchase". And only if it came from Canonical and not a third party.

[Hman242]

Do I think Ubuntu is worth $20? Absolutely! Would I pay for it? Probably not.

[mamamia88]

i would never have tried it if it cost money. but do i think it's worth $20? probably would rather buy a ubuntu hoodie and wear it around town trying to gain converts though

[teejmya]

I would probably/definitely pay for it, but you seem to miss the entire point of OPEN SOURCE!
Newbies are funny... =D

That being said, a project called Super Ubuntu packages a lot of popular codecs along with the normal Ubuntu installation. It has probably already been said, I just don't want to bother looking.

[Paqman]

Also paying for the Codecs would remove any legal issues...

Not necessarily. It's not about cost, it's about licensing. It's only legal to get those codecs from someone who's licensed to distribute them eg: Fluendo.

[AllRadioisDead]

I'd jump ship for Debian.

[NightwishFan]

Let me put it this way. Ubuntu promised to be free of charge, and that is excellent. I would probably switch to a community run distro if they went back on that promise. What I do want are Ubuntu based services from Canonical, like the box set I mentioned. I would like to see some I personally could take advantage of (I am my own tech support). We are starting to see that with Ubuntu One, and the music store. Hopefully the Ubuntu manual project takes off and distibutes printed copies.

Paying for Ubuntu itself like I said would just lead to variants that everyone would use like CentOS. What you really pay for with something like SLES and Red Hat are the services, and reliability. I do not think Canonical would charge for Ubuntu itself.

[chappajar]

Ubuntu is fantastic, but I wouldn't dream of paying for it. Who would pull $20 Ubuntu off the shelf when $0 Debian is sitting right next to it?

If there was no way to get a decent OS for less than $20 then I'd pay for Ubuntu.

[Nisal]

well it's not sound as ubuntu spirit :p no i never do that when i get this much for free

[Bachstelze]

Nope.

[Shpongle]

It is not paying I mind it is freedom. If Ubuntu charged money someone would just take the whole thing and repackage it for free. However charging for install media and services I would gladly pay.

I hope Canonical makes a boxed DVD like Novell does, with a great installer, choose between Gnome KDE XFCE LXDE (depending on space). Get common software for each, and a nice printed manual. I would pay around 100 for that and I would buy two if it were less and give one as a gift. The software center could be set up to recognize the media and give it a cool icon then enable it as a software source for your installed Ubuntu. If not every 6 months perhaps every LTS they do the DVD?

I could finally look forward to a nice software package.

why not submit it as an idea to brainstorm ?

[forrestcupp]

My first thought was, "Of course not. I'd just switch to another one that is still free."

But if that price included lifetime legal licensing for DVD playback and codecs, and all upgrades are free, then yes. I would pay the $20.

[earthpigg]

no, but i'd pay for support if i needed it.

[aeiah]

not if my money ends up going mostly to the licensees, the postage and packaging, and the pocket of someone whose only contribution is sticking everything on a DVD.

id rather give my money to xbmc, deluge, openbox and kernel hackers

[praveenthivari]

When other linux distros provide all the media codecs installed for free, they dont ask for any pay, Y should Ubuntu ask for a pay for including those codecs by default.

Do other distroes pay the royalty fee for including the codecs in their distribution? (Just want to know the fact)

If they do pay, then y are they distributing it for free?

[Austin25]

I might if it came with the drivers for my tablet pc(hp-tx2) by default. That is extremely unlikely, so no.

[_h_]

I won't pay for a dvd, but I am thinking of getting some ubuntu gear from the shop in the future. :D

[raymondh]

Similar to earthpigg ... I would pay for support

[Psumi]

I'd use Debian, which I already do, anyway. Ubuntu is getting bloated.

[snowpine]

Maybe if Canonical paid me $20... ;)

[eriktheblu]

Somehow I don't think $20 per installation would cover the license fees. The fact that the Fluendo licenses these codecs for significantly more than $20 is indicative that this plan would operate at a loss (Fluendo does work with OEMs, but under a NDA).

MS charges a significant sum for it's OS. Because of the scaled economy, MS can probably do so a much lower cost per license than small OS distributors (we'll never know for sure, NDAs and such).

On top of that, I don't recall Flash ever being distributed except directly from Macromedia/Adobe. Might be trouble there.

So, would I pay $20 for Ubuntu? Yes, if that was the only way to get Ubuntu (but I would probably stick to LTS).

Would I pay $20 for a persistent multimedia license that included CSS? Yes, but then I'm also the type of guy who actually has an FCC license for my GMRS radio.

[mickie.kext]

On top of that, I don't recall Flash ever being distributed except directly from Macromedia/Adobe. Might be trouble there.


I think it was distributed by Sun, on Solaris 10 DVD. But that's it, nobody else.

On Topic:

I would not pay anything for Ubuntu if includes proprietary software. I would not even use it for free if they stuff more proprietary software beyond firmware.

However, I heard that book about Ubuntu is being written. I would probably buy it when it comes out. And also, someone mentioned DVD with documentation and manual. I would also like to pay for that. Not that I really need it, but it would make nice gift.

[steveneddy]

I have posted on other threads about this subject.

I believe that there SHOULD be a DVD offered with all/most of the necessary codecs, specifically targeting the beginning Ubuntu user. Hopefully this would help the new user get a better start with a new OS with which they may not be that familiar with.

I also believe that if the software would be offered on DVD, there would be room to offer a small script or application that would detect the Broadcom version of wireless chips and either have a generic driver on the DVD or if possible go to the internet and fetch the correct driver for these apparently hard to configure wireless devices.

Anything to make Ubuntu easier for the beginning Ubuntu user to install and get the OS up and running with as much of the hardware supported as possible would be a great goal to accomplish.

I would support a project of this nature monetarily via a small contribution if possible.

[KdotJ]

This is a very good question. $20 dollars is nothing to pay when you compare it with the price of Windows or OSX. However, if you did have to pay just $20 for ubuntu, it starts to go against everything that ubuntu stands for.

About the drivers DVD, thats a good idea, but I also agree with steveneddy that there SHOULD be one already, and I too would contribute to it if needed.

If it came down to it, yes, I would pay $20 for it, I'd pay more then that if needed. But end where would it end? Once we start paying for the OS, the software and others bits, we may as well rename it windows.

[NightwishFan]

I wouldn't pay a cent for license fees, but if Ubuntu were proprietary I would pay. (If there were no other alternatives?)