[ncolug] Re: free
- From: <cstickelman@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ncolug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:49:03 -0500
Well said!
Chuck
---- "M. Knisely" <charon79m@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Well, I've stayed away from this long enough that those thinking of posting
> would have had their say by now.... so it's rant time for me.
>
> I'd not pay one cent. Now, why is that? Is it because it's not worth it,
> NO! Quite the contrary, I run Ubuntu because I feel it is the most capable
> and well suited solution for my needs. It is the platform off which I
> launch amazing tools that set me apart from most others in my field. Let me
> say that a little more clearly; there is little about me specifically that
> makes me any better at my job than most... I just carry the finest set of
> tools available. To me, Ubuntu has become so valuable that there is no
> price.
>
> Now then, why wouldn't I pay for it, well because there are other options.
> If Ubuntu became a pay-for-only distro, like RedHat... I'd just choose the
> "CentOS" equivalent. That's the beauty of FOSS. I could run any of the
> myriad of derivatives (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DerivativeTeam/Derivatives)...
> or hey, I could go upstream to Grandpa Debian (no flames please, I mean this
> in a strictly paternal and reverential way).
>
> Now, would I advise others to pay whatever the fee is? Perhaps. See, I'm a
> self sufficient guy when it comes to my Linux boxes. I can pretty much
> figure out whatever issue I might run up against... maybe with a little help
> from Google and the NCOLUG list. I realise, however, this is not the case
> with everyone. So, installation support may be of value to others... and
> that support is worth real money.
>
> Now, does it make sense for a company to pay for their copy of Ubuntu.
> Here's where things get fun, and I'm guessing where you really wanted to go
> with this question. NO, I do not believe that most companies should pay for
> their Ubuntu. Now, why do I say this? Well, most companies are SMBs. If
> they are hosting their own servers, then they probably have a geeky guy like
> me that can handle the issues that might arise, or ought to pay a support
> company that can. If they're ahead of the curve, they're probably hosting
> all their stuff out in "the cloud" somewhere; and that service provider is,
> and probably should be, paying for his Ubuntu servers. The enterprise
> support is where Ubuntu's parent company, Canonical, provides real value.
>
> Ok, now I need to address one other side of this, and it doesn't fit well
> into my narrative I had going above. This is the issue of "supporting the
> distribution" by paying for a copy. I see this on the surface as a good
> idea, and I'm not really against it... but I don't really place this in the
> category of "paying," To me, this is a charitable gift and should not be
> called anything different.
>
> See, the value of and FOSS increases with each user that installs it. This
> seems a little counter intuitive at first, as with commercial software every
> fee install devalues it. The reason that FOSS is the other way around is
> because with each person, new itches are discovered. Each new person using
> it makes it just that much batter. I'm no coder, but I've submitted bugs,
> and I've sure been vocal in forums about what I do and don't like. (Like how
> I HATE the new Gnome click on your username "face browser" feature!!!) A
> quick google search reveals that others hate it too, and they're going to
> build in a simple radial button to disable it in the next release. VALUE
> WENT UP without a cent changing hands.
>
> It is exactly for this reason that you can't look at FOSS as though it is
> some tangible asset. There is no supply/demand dynamic here. There is no
> "how much would you be willing to spend" because with FOSS you're not
> limited by your lack of money, nor are you helped by your abundance. The
> playing field is level; we all have access to the best software.... who wins
> and who loses depends only on who can use the tools he has the best. I for
> one hope to become a master with this fine set of tools, what about you?
>
> Mike Knisely
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 8:13 AM, Larry D <larry@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> >
> > If you had to pay money for Ubuntu on your desktop, how much would you be
> > willing to spend?
> >
> >
> > --
> > "Life is too short, to spend it waiting for slow hardware to do
> > something..." -Dev
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To unsubscribe send to ncolug-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in
> > the Subject field.
> >
> >
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