Add-on CD deemed a good idea by reviewer. What do you think?

[cleverselfreferentialname]

http://www.techiemoe.com/tech/ubuntu606.htm < Here, techieMoe has a review of Ubuntu, and it has some good points.

While I've recommended Ubuntu as the most stable distro for quite some time now, it irritates me that there's no method by which people without internet can play MP3's or get development tools. One of my friends even had to drag his computer over here to use my connection in order to get a functional installation.

For this reason, I am proposing that the following tools be included in an optional add-on CD, possibly supplied by the ShipIt program.

Basic development tools: At least enough for someone to be able to compile his own kernel.
Proprietary codecs, MP3 especially, for charge inside of the US and other places with copyright laws, free otherwise. Also good in that it will bring canonical some revenue.
Proprietary drivers like nvidia's, for which there is no real open source alternative, as discussed in the review.
Popular software not included in the distribution, especially for older machines. AbiWord and Dillo for example.


These are just minor troubles I've encountered. If you have anything, post it in here and I'll add it to the list. There's also the poll, tell me what you think about the add-on CD suggestion.

[aysiu]

One already exists:
https://ubuntuplus.bountysource.com/

The Desktop CD and Alternate CD already have build-essential on them, just not installed.

By the way, you're missing a poll option:
There should be several Ubuntu-sponsored add-on CDs, but they should not be included with the regular ShipIt CDs

[cleverselfreferentialname]

Ah......this is kinda embarrassing, but how do I change the poll options?

[BigDave708]

While it's not a bad idea, I still chose the 'not convinced' option. To provide a CD with the codecs for MP3 and DVD etc. would be prohibitively and extortionately expensive. I know that you are saying that Canonical would charge for it, but for them to obtain the necessary licenses to distribute something like this would cost mega $$$. Whilst I realise that people such as your friend do not have an internet connection, how many people do not have an internet connection today? How would they even order CDs from ShipIt in the first place (ignoring them using a work computer or friend's computer)?

It's a nice idea, but at the end of the day I don't think that it is logistically worth it at the moment.

[aysiu]

I started a thread (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=136955) earlier on this.

[John.Michael.Kane]

cleverselfreferentialname only issues i can see with it is that you would need two diffrent add-on cd's or atleast some disclaimer say if you install codec's ect that are not legal in your country you do so at your own risk.

[cleverselfreferentialname]

While it's not a bad idea, I still chose the 'not convinced' option. To provide a CD with the codecs for MP3 and DVD etc. would be prohibitively and extortionately expensive. I know that you are saying that Canonical would charge for it, but for them to obtain the necessary licenses to distribute something like this would cost mega $$$. Whilst I realise that people such as your friend do not have an internet connection, how many people do not have an internet connection today? How would they even order CDs from ShipIt in the first place (ignoring them using a work computer or friend's computer)?

It's a nice idea, but at the end of the day I don't think that it is logistically worth it at the moment.
Granted there aren't many people without an internet connection today, but it's a great inconvenience to those on, say, 56k dial-up to download 90MBs worth of packages to get java, flash, MP3s etc working.

[sagarhshah]

Granted there aren't many people without an internet connection today, but it's a great inconvenience to those on, say, 56k dial-up to download 90MBs worth of packages to get java, flash, MP3s etc working.

I would like to let my friends in africa to try Ubuntu. And I know they would prefer not to pay £150 for just the operating system.

But I can't just give them a Ubuntu cd because it doesnt have everything you need right out the box like cleverselfreferentialname says and you need to download around 90megs of files which would just take to long on dialup (broadband is too expensive in africa).

I'll have to have a look at the various add on cds that are out there. Hopefully there'll be one thats suitable.

[aysiu]

Right now, precisely because of this lack of add-on CDs, Ubuntu isn't a great distro for people who have no internet connection or only dial-up.

I would advise using Mepis, Blag, or PCLinuxOS if it's only proprietary codecs you need.

Otherwise, I'd recommend Debian, Mandriva, or Fedora as distros that have significant official add-on CDs.

[adam.tropics]

I like the idea of an addon cd, however I don't really like the idea of including it with shipit, at least not in all countries. I really think that for most countries, perhaps not all, this is a responsibility that the local teams could be tackling on a per request basis. I don't personally like ordering shipit cds anymore, except for specific distribution purposes, because I somehow feel that my cd could be better used by someone with less technological resources than I have available. Just a personal opinion though.

[3rdalbum]

Is it easy enough to create one's own add-on CD? Do you just have to put all the .deb packages and their dependancies on it, or is there some kind of trickery you need in order to be able to add as a CD-ROM repository?

[aysiu]

Is it easy enough to create one's own add-on CD? Do you just have to put all the .deb packages and their dependancies on it, or is there some kind of trickery you need in order to be able to add as a CD-ROM repository?
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptMoveHowto