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View Full Version : Ubuntu article on lockergnome...must read!



arnab_das
April 26th, 2010, 10:12 PM
This was the link i got from chris pirillo's updates on twitter. imo quite infuriating but maybe true to some extent. would love to hear comments.


http://www.lockergnome.com/nocturnalslacker/2010/04/26/ubuntu-leading-contender-in-linux-world/

Muffinabus
April 26th, 2010, 10:19 PM
He's mad at Shuttleworth for something he might possibly do in the future?

arnab_das
April 26th, 2010, 10:22 PM
He's mad at Shuttleworth for something he might possibly do in the future?

lets face it ubuntu's core principles are based on free softwares and its usage: http://www.ubuntu.com/community/ubuntustory/philosophy

i dont think ubuntu will ever deviate from this. then it might use some other name. eg. microbuntu or lets say macbuntu.

Mr. Picklesworth
April 26th, 2010, 10:25 PM
He's mad at Shuttleworth for something he might possibly do in the future?

And he isn't even right about Mark's history. Mark was involved in free software, and Debian, long before starting Ubuntu in 2004. If the guy had taken the two minutes to read the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth) he would have found this.

So, I would trust a talking tree before that article's analysis.

NCLI
April 26th, 2010, 10:30 PM
This article is ridiculous. First of all, Mark isn't a "bazillonaire," in fact, he's used most of his fortune to found Canonical. Second, the Ubuntu Promise clearly states that Ubuntu will always be free.

Third, and most important: What do you think Canonical's major customers, the big companies and governments, will do if Canonical decides to charge money for Ubuntu? It will totally ruin their budget planning, and the relationship they have built with Canonical..

kostkon
April 26th, 2010, 10:45 PM
This article is ridiculous. First of all, Mark isn't a "bazillonaire," in fact, he's used most of his fortune to found Canonical.
Err, Mark is a billionaire and he has only spent some millions (£30M? £40M?) on Canonical so far.

sudoer541
April 27th, 2010, 01:19 AM
I would gladly buy ubuntu from Bestbuy etc.
However, I would buy ubuntu only if it gave me the option to install proprietary software cuz if I buy an OS that does not have lots of popular and paid apps then its not worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):lolflag:

NMFTM
April 27th, 2010, 01:45 AM
It seems like once a distro becomes #1 it's fair game for all the tin foil hat conspiracy theorists to come out of the woodwork.

If even if Ubuntu did become a commercial distro, so what? RHEL is a commercial distro and nobody complains about that.

bikeboy
April 27th, 2010, 01:54 AM
It seems like once a distro becomes #1 it's fair game for all the tin foil hat conspiracy theorists to come out of the woodwork.

Also called Tall Poppy Syndrome.

murderslastcrow
April 27th, 2010, 01:58 AM
Yeah, Ubuntu rocks, and it's becoming more widely accepted. If you don't like proprietary software, don't use it- Ubuntu won't shove it in your mouth. It's all your choice, as it always has been. No one's forcing you to use Skype, for instance. But if it's easier to get when you ARE looking for it explicitly, then what's the harm in that?

No one wants software freedom to become an afterthought, but I don't think letting people use native applications instead of Wine is going to make things worse.

Doctor Mike
April 27th, 2010, 03:12 AM
This was the link i got from chris pirillo's updates on twitter. imo quite infuriating but maybe true to some extent. would love to hear comments.


http://www.lockergnome.com/nocturnalslacker/2010/04/26/ubuntu-leading-contender-in-linux-world/Two things:

1. The guy is a shock jock... He shoots people in the a** then says something nice, like want a cookie.

2. Wouldn't matter what Mark did in the future... Open source... The project (free) would be taken over under a different name. Why would anyone pay?

Khakilang
April 27th, 2010, 03:42 AM
Ubuntu can become like Red Hat and Fedora. One paid and one free. So what if Fedora is a testing product for Red Hat.

mcoleman44
April 27th, 2010, 03:50 AM
So what if Mark is out to make money?? No ****! who isnt? How can you blame him?

kenweill
April 27th, 2010, 04:01 AM
This was the link i got from chris pirillo's updates on twitter. imo quite infuriating but maybe true to some extent. would love to hear comments.


http://www.lockergnome.com/nocturnalslacker/2010/04/26/ubuntu-leading-contender-in-linux-world/

He's funny actually. :D

Roasted
April 27th, 2010, 04:11 AM
It seems like once a distro becomes #1 it's fair game for all the tin foil hat conspiracy theorists to come out of the woodwork.

If even if Ubuntu did become a commercial distro, so what? RHEL is a commercial distro and nobody complains about that.

The only difference I would argue is the fact that RHEL intentionally aims itself into the commercial business, where spending money on software is more expected than us home users. Not to mention, RHEL has its little brother Fedora to fill in that gap for users who want to utilize a free operating system.


Ubuntu can become like Red Hat and Fedora. One paid and one free. So what if Fedora is a testing product for Red Hat.

While I think this would be a bold move for Ubuntu, I like the way they're doing it now. The real money is in the support, which is where Canonical would make their money in the case of a user (or business) spending extra money for that 1-800 number to call if they get into a bind.

The thing is Ubuntu is in a market where free operating systems is the norm when it comes to the Linux side of things. The day Ubuntu requires payment before using it is the day it will literally run into a brick wall and begin to lose what marketshare it has at an exponential rate. Sure, some users may pay for it, but we all know there's other Linux distros out there. The whole idea behind free and open source software is one that Ubuntu should continue to uphold. It DID after all make a promise...

I want to see Ubuntu continue trucking forward the way they are now. The more exposure to Ubuntu, the better it is for them in the long run. However they have to play a calculated card game here. After all, they are dealing with big guns Microsoft and Apple, along with a bunch of free Linux distros just waiting for their chance to shine.

NCLI
April 27th, 2010, 12:34 PM
Err, Mark is a billionaire and he has only spent some millions (£30M? £40M?) on Canonical so far.

Nope, his net worth is £150 million. A far cry from being a billionaire. If it's true that he's used 40m £ on Ubuntu, that means he's invested a huge bite of his fortune in it.

Pogeymanz
April 27th, 2010, 01:12 PM
Wow, I don't say this very often, but this guy is an idiot. I will remember not to read anything from lockergnome in the future.

There is little point for me to refute this guy, because everyone here already knows how incorrect this is.

Oh my goodness, he wants to make money? Who would want to do that? I hate lugging around this stupid wallet so that I can buy food and pay rent...

3rdalbum
April 27th, 2010, 01:32 PM
"it's just speculation on a man who obviously likes to make money."

Immediately underneath, a Google ad. I guess it takes one to know one.

coutts99
April 27th, 2010, 01:54 PM
Wow, I don't say this very often, but this guy is an idiot. I will remember not to read anything from lockergnome in the future.

There is little point for me to refute this guy, because everyone here already knows how incorrect this is.

Oh my goodness, he wants to make money? Who would want to do that? I hate lugging around this stupid wallet so that I can buy food and pay rent...

I came to the same conclusions many many years ago.

Doctor Mike
April 27th, 2010, 04:33 PM
Wow, I don't say this very often, but this guy is an idiot. I will remember not to read anything from lockergnome in the future.

There is little point for me to refute this guy, because everyone here already knows how incorrect this is.

Oh my goodness, he wants to make money? Who would want to do that? I hate lugging around this stupid wallet so that I can buy food and pay rent...This guy is not a complete idiot. He likes to make money, so says things that attract people to the scene of an accident (one of his own making). This kind of dribble makes little people feel big...:rolleyes:

Excedio
April 27th, 2010, 06:28 PM
Everyone does realize that Chris Pirillo did not write that article right? It was someone named Eric.

zekopeko
April 27th, 2010, 06:44 PM
Nope, his net worth is £150 million. A far cry from being a billionaire. If it's true that he's used 40m £ on Ubuntu, that means he's invested a huge bite of his fortune in it.

You are wrong. He sold his company in 1999 for 575 million $. He is a billionaire now. Rich people invest money to make more money you know. The rest is tied into various other firms he owns.

Doctor Mike
April 27th, 2010, 07:17 PM
Everyone does realize that Chris Pirillo did not write that article right? It was someone named Eric.
I am now... Thanks... Still don't like Chris, but he would be due an apology from me... sorry, would you like a cookie? I mean Chris...

cprofitt
April 27th, 2010, 08:15 PM
I do not believe anything Pirillo has to say -- he is a media personality from a failed tech show who converted from Windows to OS X... but is now supposedly trying to do a 'Help Desk with Chris Pirillo' show on Microsoft's Channel 9.

In short he is bought and paid for by big players.

He is a successful person, but he seems to have an agenda that overrides truth in some cases.

--
As for that article -- it is written by Eric ... but Pirillo only grants access to certain people to contribute directly to Lockergnome... so he bears some of the burden when things are published.

NCLI
April 27th, 2010, 08:21 PM
You are wrong. He sold his company in 1999 for 575 million $. He is a billionaire now. Rich people invest money to make more money you know. The rest is tied into various other firms he owns.

According to the Times (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_2009/article6066953.ece), his net worth is 150 mil. I assume that includes various stocks he owns.

whiskeylover
April 27th, 2010, 08:30 PM
Isn't Chris Pirillo that dork from Tech TV about 8-9 years ago? I remember seeing his shows then and then instantly vomiting.

arnab_das
April 27th, 2010, 08:59 PM
Isn't Chris Pirillo that dork from Tech TV about 8-9 years ago? I remember seeing his shows then and then instantly vomiting.

yup he's the one. not sure if he's a dork but he sure isnt an open source friendly person. havent seen him make a single poisitive video on any linux distro.

98cwitr
April 27th, 2010, 09:20 PM
From Ubuntu's website

"Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge."

http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu

They could get into some legal trouble for charging for the software with this statement being present.

Wont happen....the $19.99 is for a SERVICE that includes installation and a quick getting started instructional. It's not for the software itself. If you're not too much of an idiot to install it, it's free.

Here's what I don't get

Why in the hell did Dell go with FreeDOS for there Linux based OS on their lowend linux boxes???

^^^Will never understand that. Must have been a money thing.

Desert Sailor
April 27th, 2010, 09:21 PM
Reminds me of a shill at a carnival. The more outrageous his claims the more he can get people to pay attention if for only a second. These web sites sell advertising, which is based on number of hits. (views) So anything that can increase the number of hits will increase their revenue. Truth, honesty, and knowledge have NOTHING to do with anything in their world.

NMFTM
April 27th, 2010, 09:30 PM
From Ubuntu's website

"Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge."

http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu

They could get into some legal trouble for charging for the software with this statement being present.
I don't know how the Isle of Man's legal system works. But here in the US I don't think you can get in trouble for saying something like that. Your just making a statement, it's not a legal contract. If I said "Leftover food from my restaurant will always be donated to the homeless" but stopped doing it, I don't think I could get in trouble if I stopped doing that as long as I stopped saying that I was doing it at the same time that I actually stopped.

arnab_das
April 27th, 2010, 09:33 PM
I don't know how the Isle of Man's legal system works. But here in the US I don't think you can get in trouble for saying something like that. Your just making a statement, it's not a legal contract. If I said "Leftover food from my restaurant will always be donated to the homeless" but stopped doing it, I don't think I could get in trouble if I stopped doing that as long as I stopped saying that I was doing it at the same time that I actually stopped.

a very good point indeed. would like to know if ubuntu's philosophies have any legal importance.

Doctor Mike
April 27th, 2010, 09:33 PM
yup he's the one. not sure if he's a dork but he sure isnt an open source friendly person. havent seen him make a single oisitive video on any linux distro.You beet me to the punch. Want a cookie, Chris likes them.

I have seen guys like Chris for many years. I've also seen guys like S**** ****** who made a great MS security information resource available, until they/he started to believe that their/his own s*** doesn't stink. Media = Power... Too much power = rots in the face of it's own weakness.

98cwitr
April 27th, 2010, 09:43 PM
I don't know how the Isle of Man's legal system works. But here in the US I don't think you can get in trouble for saying something like that. Your just making a statement, it's not a legal contract. If I said "Leftover food from my restaurant will always be donated to the homeless" but stopped doing it, I don't think I could get in trouble if I stopped doing that as long as I stopped saying that I was doing it at the same time that I actually stopped.

hummm...ive got a friend who's an attorney...I might just ask him :)

Yes
April 27th, 2010, 09:44 PM
Here's what I don't get

Why in the hell did Dell go with FreeDOS for there Linux based OS on their lowend linux boxes???

^^^Will never understand that. Must have been a money thing.

Err, FreeDOS isn't Linux.

NightwishFan
April 27th, 2010, 09:45 PM
Mark is not like that. I do not know the man, but someone who dreams to go into space is not out to make a buck when they get back.

98cwitr
April 27th, 2010, 09:50 PM
Err, FreeDOS isn't Linux.

how's the kernel written? (sorry, that fart did come out of my a$$ ;) )

Yes
April 27th, 2010, 10:00 PM
how's the kernel written? (sorry, that fart did come out of my a$$ ;) )

The kernel was written by volunteers, much like how the Linux kernel was written.

rJ~
April 27th, 2010, 10:08 PM
Looks like a case of the tinfoil hat being on too tight.

zekopeko
April 27th, 2010, 10:17 PM
According to the Times (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_2009/article6066953.ece), his net worth is 150 mil. I assume that includes various stocks he owns.

I stand corrected. I didn't know he spent half of that on charities.

alket
April 27th, 2010, 11:13 PM
There is nothing wrong to make money as long as Ubuntu is free.

K.Mandla
April 27th, 2010, 11:52 PM
The idea isn't anything new. I heard that same shriek of "oh no, I might have to pay for this one day" five years ago when I started visiting here.

It hasn't happened yet, I doubt it will ever happen, and even if it did, most of us would just start using another distro. Problem solved. Crisis averted.

NMFTM
April 27th, 2010, 11:52 PM
In response to my previous post: I think that (in the US anyway) there is quite a bit of leeway as far as false advertising. Ever go to a fast food restraint? They show you one version of what their Big Mac or Whopper looks like up on the ordering menu, but when you actually unwrap said sandwich, it looks completely different. If that's not false advertising I don't know what is. And it doesn't seem like anyone has successfully sued McDonalds or Burger King for it.

Roasted
April 28th, 2010, 02:51 AM
The idea isn't anything new. I heard that same shriek of "oh no, I might have to pay for this one day" five years ago when I started visiting here.

It hasn't happened yet, I doubt it will ever happen, and even if it did, most of us would just start using another distro. Problem solved. Crisis averted.

I'd be extremely, extremely surprised if one day Ubuntu did begin to cost money. Mark has hammered on this subject before about how he doesn't want to go down that route. He also stated he thinks he would lose most, if not -all- of his core developers if Ubuntu went that route.

The company has a good spirit behind them. They know all too well that costing money someday won't generate any revenue - it'll only hurt them. I like the passion I see with this organization and I look forward to see what more comes out of Ubuntu and Linux/open source software in general. Very powerful stuff.

Yes
April 28th, 2010, 02:56 AM
Even if they wanted to I don't think they could get away with it. No offense, but it's nothing special really, in terms of Linux distros. If they started charging for it I feel like the majority of Ubuntu users would just move to a distro like Fedora or Debian.

Roasted
April 28th, 2010, 04:11 AM
Even if they wanted to I don't think they could get away with it. No offense, but it's nothing special really, in terms of Linux distros. If they started charging for it I feel like the majority of Ubuntu users would just move to a distro like Fedora or Debian.

I agree. And what's better yet is according to Mark and the core Ubuntu developers, they're aware of this and most (if not all) wouldn't stand for it even if they COULD get away with it.

Pretty admirable, in my opinion.

kostkon
April 28th, 2010, 10:49 AM
According to the Times (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_2009/article6066953.ece), his net worth is 150 mil. I assume that includes various stocks he owns.
According to this NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2):

All the fuss at the meeting centered on something called Ubuntu and a man named Mark Shuttleworth, the charismatic 35-year-old billionaire from South Africa who functions as the spiritual and financial leader of this coding clan.

In the following years, Mr. Shuttleworth set up venture capital and charitable organizations. Through investments in the United States, Africa and Europe, he says, he has amassed a fortune of more than $1 billion.

tuddy666
April 28th, 2010, 11:36 AM
This article is, essentially, a tinfoil hat theory. Ubuntu -may- become a commercial product in the future. In fact, commercial versions -have- been sold in the past (with support bundled in) and probably will be sold in the future if Ubuntu becomes more popular.

But, the key words there are "with support bundled in". You're not buying the software, you're buying the service that goes with the software, which is where a lot of Canonical's revenue comes from (the rest of the revenue is a combination of merchandise and various other things).

Personally, I think that, in this theoretical future, the "commercial" version of Ubuntu would be a very similar story - the OS itself, updates etc will still be absolutely free for anybody who wants it (so no need to pay however much "half the price of Windows" is); but there will also be boxed versions with support subscriptions, or maybe even proprietary software bundled. I'm sure releasing that around the time "Windows 8 - Super Deluxe Hyper Tournament Edition Three" releases would make a few people switch to Linux.

NCLI
April 28th, 2010, 12:25 PM
I stand corrected. I didn't know he spent half of that on charities.

Always good to see a disagreement ending in mutual agreement. Something we need more of in this world :)


According to this NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2):
Like zekopeko said, he used a huge part of it on charities, and funding Canonical. Besides, that NY Times article doesn't say that he still has that fortune, simply that he had amassed it at some point in his life.

Oh, and by the way:

I want to find out what it’s like to have a gigabit connection to the home,” he said. “It is not because I need to watch porn in high-definition but because I want to see what you do differently.
Of course Mark, it has nothing to do with wanting to watch 50 HD porn channels at the same time, it's for the company's sake, riiiight....

In response to my previous post: I think that (in the US anyway) there is quite a bit of leeway as far as false advertising. Ever go to a fast food restraint? They show you one version of what their Big Mac or Whopper looks like up on the ordering menu, but when you actually unwrap said sandwich, it looks completely different. If that's not false advertising I don't know what is. And it doesn't seem like anyone has successfully sued McDonalds or Burger King for it.

Actually, McDonald's has been sued over false advertising, but they won the case by arguing that, if the entire contents of the burger were pushed into the one half you see in the ads, the amount would be the same.

98cwitr
April 28th, 2010, 01:18 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Mark_Shuttleworth_by_Martin_Schmitt.jpg/200px-Mark_Shuttleworth_by_Martin_Schmitt.jpg

wtf is up with the headset?

zekopeko
April 28th, 2010, 02:10 PM
According to this NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2):

I knew I read somewhere he is a billionaire.

zekopeko
April 28th, 2010, 02:11 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Mark_Shuttleworth_by_Martin_Schmitt.jpg/200px-Mark_Shuttleworth_by_Martin_Schmitt.jpg

wtf is up with the headset?

From a LinuxTag keynote[1]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Shuttleworth_by_Martin_Schmitt.jpg

tuddy666
April 28th, 2010, 03:08 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Mark_Shuttleworth_by_Martin_Schmitt.jpg/200px-Mark_Shuttleworth_by_Martin_Schmitt.jpg

wtf is up with the headset?

I don't know, but I think he looks pretty BA in that photo.