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View Full Version : How does Ubuntu makes most of its turnover?



zhongguohua88
June 7th, 2008, 07:18 PM
Hi everyone, I am new here and I am wondering about Ubuntu. Please excuse my poor English.

Since the software and its components are free of charge, how can Canonical Ltd. make profit from it? Does all the money comes from merchandise and DVD sales? Since the operating system and the other open source softwares are free, I suppose most people do not pay for it.

In order to convince the general public that this OS is superior to its competitors, I believe things such as advertising are required. Since Microsoft will obviously keep breaking anti-trust laws in order to maintain its dominance over the market, what should/will be done in order to further spread Ubuntu across the globe? How can it compete against a remorseless and powerful multinational that have the power to overpass anti-trust laws and that will do everything it can in order to prevent the spread of other OS? Can Canonical Ltd. afford to market Ubuntu the same way Microsoft and Apple market theirs, and will that result in a significant turnover? I know that word of mouth can be a powerful tool to promote websites like Youtube but I do not think most people are ready to change their OS, most of them are affraid of change.

What do you guys think about the futur of Ubuntu?

Thanks for reading.

-grubby
June 7th, 2008, 07:23 PM
Well for one, they make money selling "professional" support. Also, Mark Shuttleworth has over 600 million dollars, I don't forsee them not being able to fund Ubuntu any time soon

acelin
June 7th, 2008, 07:32 PM
Well for one, they make money selling "professional" support. Also, Mark Shuttleworth has over 600 million dollars, I don't forsee them not being able to fund Ubuntu any time soon

I imagine he actually makes enough interest off of his fortune to keep Ubuntu afloat for a long time. Not to mention I bet Dell pays some money to Canonical for their use of Ubuntu, other than the support service that is offered with them.