Canonical asks desktop users to "pay what you think Ubuntu is worth"

[jrog]

Its funny that Canonical asks for money in order to "better support" Ubuntu flavours, cause it currently doesnt support them at all.
0*better is still 0...

I don't know why you'd take "better support" to mean "take the current level of support and multiply it," because 0 support is not better than 0 support. Why not take it to mean "provide a level of support that is greater than the current level?" That seems to be the way that this ought to be understand, if we're being charitable -- not to mention that it seems to be what "better" means in the first place (i.e., add more; not necessarily multiply the current level).

[furtom]

Ever thought how things like the servers for this Forum and other community access points etc are funded?

Ever thought of how the Developer Conferences are funded?

Are you saying that Mark should be the only one paying for these?

If this is his business venture, then, M. Shuttleworth's going to put what money in it he thinks is appropriate in the hopes of a return on his investment like anyone else.

If it's not a business venture, but a non-profit enterprise, I'd be happy to give. Ubuntu is great and I would support it's continued development.

For-profit entities that need cash seek investors, not donations.

[furtom]

I think it's pretty clear that he's (or she's?) not saying the last thing; he was talking about Canonical, not Mark.

That's right. Is Mark (does everyone refer to him by his first name? I'm new here) the only Canonical investor? If so, he has no one to answer to. If not, he and his other investors will decide what money to spend in the pursuit of their business.

[KiwiNZ]

If this is his business venture, then, M. Shuttleworth's going to put what money in it he thinks is appropriate in the hopes of a return on his investment like anyone else.

If it's not a business venture, but a non-profit enterprise, I'd be happy to give. Ubuntu is great and I would support it's continued development.

For-profit entities that need cash seek investors, not donations.

That doesn't answer my question. These Forums are provided for Community support and interaction. Canonical gains no direct benefit from them. They are funded by Canonical. So should Canonical continue to fund or should the community fund by way of donation. It is the same with the Developer conferences?

Remember the tens of thousands of FREE ubuntu CD's that were sent all around the World, who funded them?

The $10,000,000 that was given to sustain the ubuntu Foundation who funded that ?

Should it always be a one way street?

[furtom]

That doesn't answer my question. These Forums are provided for Community support and interaction. Canonical gains no direct benefit from them. They are funded by Canonical. So should Canonical continue to fund or should the community fund by way of donation. It is the same with the Developer conferences?

Remember the tens of thousands of FREE ubuntu CD's that were sent all around the World, who funded them?

The $10,000,000 that was given to sustain the ubuntu Foundation who funded that ?

Should it always be a one way street?

Canonical has an interest in spreading Ubuntu to as many users as possible. Anything that helps that, like giving away DVDs or providing support or conferences, is a business expense.

Don't blame me for this. It was set up as a private corporation to make a profit. That's just the way it is.

If Mark set up Ubuntu as not-for-profit, everything you say would be 100 percent correct. But since Canonical is trying to make a profit, that makes all the difference.

Mark has said himself, Canonical is creeping toward the break even point. When that happens, then what? Let's say it turns a profit. Is Canonical going to return the donations?

It just doesn't make sense that a business asks for donations. It doesn't matter if it's a linux business or any other.

Anyway, that's my opinion. So far, I don't see any reason to change it. I doubt you will either. So we may agree to disagree.

Edit: But you are right about the Ubuntu Foundation. If the donations were for that, you'd not hear a peep from me about it.

[KiwiNZ]

Canonical has an interest in spreading Ubuntu to as many users as possible. Anything that helps that, like giving away DVDs or providing support or conferences, is a business expense.

Don't blame me for this. It was set up as a private corporation to make a profit. That's just the way it is.

If Mark set up Ubuntu as not-for-profit, everything you say would be 100 percent correct. But since Canonical is trying to make a profit, that makes all the difference.

Mark has said himself, Canonical is creeping toward the break even point. When that happens, then what? Let's say it turns a profit. Is Canonical going to return the donations?

It just doesn't make sense that a business asks for donations. It doesn't matter if it's a linux business or any other.

Anyway, that's my opinion. So far, I don't see any reason to change it. I doubt you will either. So we may agree to disagree.

Edit: But you are right about the Ubuntu Foundation. If the donations were for that, you'd not hear a peep from me about it.

So ubuntu should be $50 per download.

[vasa1]

They should have a highly visible donate button on all Canonical pages, even wiki pages, that isn't linked to the act of downloading.

[vasa1]

I think it's just that it suggests something negative about their other revenue streams....

I'm sure we can all think of certain other "ventures" that ask for money from people even though they, the ventures, are extremely well-funded and make no secret of their opulence.
I can't provide examples here because that would violate forum regulations.

[jrog]

So ubuntu should be $50 per download.

This is not what he said at all, so it doesn't really seem helpful to the conversation, as far as I can tell... Let's at least try to be fair/charitable to people here.

The only thing furtom seems to be saying is this: Canonical is a for-profit business, not a non-profit community; that being so, seeking donations to fund them and their activities is somewhat odd. That's all, as far as I can tell. In no way does that entail that Ubuntu should be $50 per download, or anything like that. The only suggestion is that if Canonical wants to be a for-profit Linux business, then it ought not to be the target of donations; instead, it ought to fund its products with its own revenue, in whatever ways it deems fit. That doesn't require charging for the downloads (Oracle Linux, for example, is freely available even though Oracle seeks to turn a profit and is not, as far as I know, seeking donations).

Anyway, I'm not saying that I agree. I did notice that one of the donation options is specifically titled, "Tip to Canonical," which might mean that the other donations are to the larger Ubuntu community (or the Ubuntu Foundation, or something like that) rather than to Canonical itself. That might get around furtom's concerns, but I'm not sure.

[KiwiNZ]

This is not what he said at all, so it doesn't really seem helpful to the conversation, as far as I can tell... Let's at least try to be fair/charitable to people here.

The only thing furtom seems to be saying is this: Canonical is a for-profit business, not a non-profit community; that being so, seeking donations to fund them and their activities is somewhat odd. That's all, as far as I can tell. In no way does that entail that Ubuntu should be $50 per download, or anything like that. The only suggestion is that if Canonical wants to be a for-profit Linux business, then it ought not to be the target of donations; instead, it ought to fund its products with its own revenue, in whatever ways it deems fit. That doesn't require charging for the downloads (Oracle Linux, for example, is freely available even though Oracle seeks to turn a profit and is not, as far as I know, seeking donations).

Anyway, I'm not saying that I agree. I did notice that one of the donation options is specifically titled, "Tip to Canonical," which might mean that the other donations are to the larger Ubuntu community (or the Ubuntu Foundation, or something like that) rather than to Canonical itself. That might get around furtom's concerns, but I'm not sure.

Ubuntu is BOTH a non-profit and for profit, as an example 100% of those who visit here benefit from the non profit.

My point for the $50 is in order to clear confusion maybe ubuntu should no longer be free then there is no confusion. But that wont stop the inevitable protests at a change made by ubuntu.