This may be a crazy idea, but..

[coolime12345]

Hello.
I know this is a crazy idea, and I am aware that most people are going to yell at me for this, but I am going to post it anyway. If this is the wrong place to post it, I would ask someone with necessary privileges to move it.

Ubuntu should have a paid package that one could buy from tech stores worldwide.

That package would be cheap, around €10 and it should include more necessary applications and codecs (like gimp) that are left out of Ubuntu because they take up the fairly limited room of a CD.

It would contain a CD or even a DVD if there is not enough room in a CD. An alternative package could include an 1GB USB flash drive for netbooks which do not have room for an optical disk drive.
Also it would include an user guide (how to install step-by-step guide and a quick tutorial on features)

I think this package could have a "please note that you can download a variant of Ubuntu with some codecs and applications excluded for free from ubuntu.com"

What are the pros of this?

*When people go to a tech store to buy a Windows for their Macintosh when they were not happy with OSX, they see an €10 package of Ubuntu next to it. It is a 50:50 chance that they buy Ubuntu instead.
*€10 is cheap, isn't it? Some kids I know get more pocket money per week. Because Ubuntu is free, you only pay for the disk/usb stick, the paper required to print an user guide and a little support to Canonical.

Cons are that:

*Tech stores may not want to import things that have a "you can download the same thing for free online". It is like selling air.

Of course, it wouldn't have a package on EVERY release of Ubuntu. Every LTS version should be fine.

What do you think?

[rk0r]

Hello.
I know this is a crazy idea, and I am aware that most people are going to yell at me for this, but I am going to post it anyway. If this is the wrong place to post it, I would ask someone with necessary privileges to move it.

Ubuntu should have a paid package that one could buy from tech stores worldwide.

That package would be cheap, around €10 and it should include more necessary applications and codecs (like gimp) that are left out of Ubuntu because they take up the fairly limited room of a CD.

It would contain a CD or even a DVD if there is not enough room in a CD. An alternative package could include an 1GB USB flash drive for netbooks which do not have room for an optical disk drive.
Also it would include an user guide (how to install step-by-step guide and a quick tutorial on features)

I think this package could have a "please note that you can download a variant of Ubuntu with some codecs and applications excluded for free from ubuntu.com"

What are the pros of this?

*When people go to a tech store to buy a Windows for their Macintosh when they were not happy with OSX, they see an €10 package of Ubuntu next to it. It is a 50:50 chance that they buy Ubuntu instead.
*€10 is cheap, isn't it? Some kids I know get more pocket money per week. Because Ubuntu is free, you only pay for the disk/usb stick, the paper required to print an user guide and a little support to Canonical.

Cons are that:

*Tech stores may not want to import things that have a "you can download the same thing for free online". It is like selling air.

Of course, it wouldn't have a package on EVERY release of Ubuntu. Every LTS version should be fine.

What do you think?

Download it from ubuntu website as its quicker and easier!.
*you can get all the package you want off the software repo up to date.

[hailholyghost]

Very bad idea to sell Ubuntu like that. One of Open Source's chief advantages over Windows and Mac is that it is freely distributed, and selling DVDs would negate that advantage.


That package would be cheap, around €10 and it should include more necessary applications and codecs (like gimp) that are left out of Ubuntu because they take up the fairly limited room of a CD.

That package is easily available through synaptic and the Ubuntu Software Center.

They do sell CDs very cheaply through Ubuntu's website, where you only pay shipping and handling if you don't want to burn your own CD.

[spynappels]

There is nothing stopping you doing this yourself, as long as you make it very clear that the money they are paying is not for the software, but for having it burned to media and providing some support.

That is largely what Red Hat get paid for...

[Gremlinzzz]

They are already selling Linux Distros including Ubuntu at
http://distrowatch.com/
I never bought one,if Linux stops being free/a pirate i would be
:popcorn:

[samalex]

I haven't seen Linux on the shelf of any of our local computer store since around 2000, and though times were different back then with most people on dial-up and CD burners being a luxury, buying Linux back then was the only option for most. Heck my first copy of Linux was Red Hat 4.something purchased from Best Buy around 1997 for $20, and if not for this I wouldn't have gotten into it when I did.

Today is quite different since most people can download Linux in about 15-20 minutes, and with CD burners and USB drives being cheap enough I just don't see it being very economical for Canonical or any other distro to mass produce boxed copies for stores. The best thing that would come out of it is PR or awareness, but that can backfire if someone brings a copy of Linux to a salesman with questions and he speaks poorly of it. I'd almost rather someone's first impression of Linux be from those who support it.

Instead I'd like to see books like Ubuntu Unleashed or even monthly magazines being produced inexpensively with the latest version of Ubuntu or even other distros bundled within. This used to be another great way to get CD's to the masses, but i'm not sure anyone does this anymore.

Sam

[Paqman]

Didn't Suse used to do something like this?

[haqking]

Didn't Suse used to do something like this?

yep actually they were great.

I still have the box sets in the attic somewhere, nice DVD bundle, big thick manual, and a couple of t-shirts which i got free with them (which alas i loved and now cant find anywhere again to buy as the others got mislaid or thrown out by my ex)

The manuals were awesome.

They still do at http://en.opensuse.org/Buy_openSUSE

slackware does the same thing for those that want a manual and DVD set as do a few others.

[forrestcupp]

I think most people aren't getting the OP's point. Sure, Ubuntu is available as a free download. But how are people supposed to download it if they don't even have a clue that it is available? If I see it on a shelf, all of the sudden I know it exists and that it is an inexpensive alternative to Windows. The only problem with your plan is that if they started including codecs in a commercial version, they would have to pay licensing fees to include those, so the price would have to include that.

Also, some people don't understand the GPL. You're allowed to take any GPLed software you can find and sell it for whatever price you want, as long as you can find people ignorant enough to buy it. You don't have to sell for only the price of the media; you can put whatever price you want on it.

Back in the late 90's when they still sold commercial Linux on the Best Buy shelves, I actually bought a copy to try out. They failed when they started jacking up the price to where it wasn't much better deal than Windows.

[Paqman]

yep actually they were great.


Obviously not profitable though. The shrink-wrapped box-o-Linux business model has been tried and didn't really work out. I think people would be understandably wary of giving it another go, especially since shrink-wrapped boxed software is on the way out in general.

[whatthefunk]

You can buy pretty much that exact thing at book stores except that what youre paying for is the users guide rather than the free CD that comes with it.

[rk0r]

The best way to get the word out is to have a TV advert, before you know it there will be a flood of downloads. Also put some posters up in shops with a download link underneath.

[haqking]

Obviously not profitable though. The shrink-wrapped box-o-Linux business model has been tried and didn't really work out. I think people would be understandably wary of giving it another go, especially since shrink-wrapped boxed software is on the way out in general.

why "obviously not profitable" ?

They still do it as do others.

And i dont think it is about profit per se, more a different source for obtaining product as not everyone has downloads speeds to suit or pay for data etc.

[Paqman]

why "obviously not profitable" ?


Suse went bust dude.

[haqking]

Suse went bust dude.

LOL oh well yeah there is that, though did they go bust i thought they were just bought out by Novell after struggling a little

anyways i just meant i dont think they offered it with pure profit in mind, opensuse still do the same thing offering a DVD/Manual bundle as do other distros.

[QIII]

Instead of a CD glued to the back of a specialty Linux magazine that nobody except Linux users will look at, the CDs need to be glued to the back of PC Mag, Maximum PC, Windows Magazine, Macworld ...

Who cares what distro?

[whatthefunk]

The best way to get the word out is to have a TV advert, before you know it there will be a flood of downloads. Also put some posters up in shops with a download link underneath.

Who's going to pay for that?? TV ads are ridiculously expensive.


Instead of a CD glued to the back of a specialty Linux magazine that nobody except Linux users will look at, the CDs need to be glued to the back of PC Mag, Maximum PC, Windows Magazine, Macworld ...

Who cares what distro?

Again, who pays for this? Im sure a PC magazine would be happy to put Linux CDs in their mags as long as the CDs and associated advertising were paid for by somebody.

[QIII]

Again, who pays for this? Im sure a PC magazine would be happy to put Linux CDs in their mags as long as the CDs and associated advertising were paid for by somebody.

The purveyor of the distro. Perhaps they all pool resources with the number of CDs of each distro attached representing the percentage of the aggregate collected from each. Perhaps they ask us if we would like to pitch in $5 like we do on PayPal for developers when we download a package.

I, for one, would be every bit as willing to do that as to burn copies to CD/DVD and give them to people -- as I do now.

[forrestcupp]

And i dont think it is about profit per se, more a different source for obtaining product as not everyone has downloads speeds to suit or pay for data etc.And most regular users don't want to have to figure out how to burn an iso to a CD/DVD/USB, change their boot order and install an OS when the one that came on their computer does just fine at emails and Facebook. I think the only real chance is getting Linux onto computers in Walmart and Best Buy, and we already saw how well that worked with Dell.

[QIII]

Dell is so proprietary about everything they don't even like to play hardware the same as everyone else.

"Dellbuntu" did a great deal of harm, I think.

[haqking]

my own opinion is that Linux always has been and always will be a niche market, desktop wise anyways (server side for e-commerce is different obviously)

And desktop wide corporate wise wont ever happen either (not large scale) due to training issues, compliance issues etc in my opinion.

The main freedom it offers me personally as a desktop OS is power of configuration and control, to have that requires technical understanding and no matter what steps taken with distros such as Ubuntu targeting everyone for and ease of use OS, i dont think it will ever really happen large scale, if anyone could use it then i think it would no longer be Linux.

I know that sounds elitist and i dont mean it arrogantly, i mean i always offer help on here where and when i can even if the user is quite clearly technically challenged but in my opinion Linux as general rule is and will stay as a specific type of OS for a apecific type of person, and that type of person will seek linux out.

Peace

[forrestcupp]

I think Android is the only way Linux is going to ever get to the masses. And that's only Linux because of the kernel, so I don't think it really even counts.

[whatthefunk]

The purveyor of the distro. Perhaps they all pool resources with the number of CDs of each distro attached representing the percentage of the aggregate collected from each. Perhaps they ask us if we would like to pitch in $5 like we do on PayPal for developers when we download a package.

I, for one, would be every bit as willing to do that as to burn copies to CD/DVD and give them to people -- as I do now.

Most Linux distro purveyors are tight on cash as it is. If they spent all their money on advertising their free product they wouldnt have any money left for development. Running magazine ad campaigns in even a single country would set one back a few hundred thousand dollars, and that doesnt include the cost of the CDs. And they would gain absolutely nothing from it.

As for user donations, I personally would rather my donation money go toward development than advertising. The number of Linux users in the world is irrelevant to me.

[nutrapi]

I haven't seen Linux on the shelf of any of our local computer store since around 2000, and though times were different back then with most people on dial-up and CD burners being a luxury, buying Linux back then was the only option for most. Heck my first copy of Linux was Red Hat 4.something purchased from Best Buy around 1997 for $20, and if not for this I wouldn't have gotten into it when I did.

Today is quite different since most people can download Linux in about 15-20 minutes, and with CD burners and USB drives being cheap enough I just don't see it being very economical for Canonical or any other distro to mass produce boxed copies for stores. The best thing that would come out of it is PR or awareness, but that can backfire if someone brings a copy of Linux to a salesman with questions and he speaks poorly of it. I'd almost rather someone's first impression of Linux be from those who support it.

Instead I'd like to see books like Ubuntu Unleashed or even monthly magazines being produced inexpensively with the latest version of Ubuntu or even other distros bundled within. This used to be another great way to get CD's to the masses, but i'm not sure anyone does this anymore.

Sam


That's how I got my first copies of red hat and mandrake!

[samalex]

Didn't Suse used to do something like this?

Yup, and they still do. After Red Hat 9 dropped their community support in 2003 I bought a boxed copy of SuSE from their website.

I'm not against distro selling boxed copies, but I'm not sure putting them in places like Best Buy would be the best option.