[SC.LUG] [Fwd: Xandros Desktop OS Open Circulation Edition]

[Andy Roffe]

Rick,

That's quite a rant. 

Have you actually tried Xandros? Or come to that have you tried building 
a commercial distro. 

I own a copy of Xandros (among many other free, "free" and proprietary 
linux distro's) and there is a market for all of them - they all suit 
different users with different needs, tastes and pockets. I think this 
choice is a good thing. 

I happen to think there is some value in their commercial offering. I'm 
not a newbie - I know what it takes to build a distro like that. I also 
think they are entitled to sell their work however they choose. I 
imagine that you exercise the same right with your business.

I can choose debian, gentoo, Novell, Ubuntu, RedHat etc... Some free, 
some paid for. 
Dude - that is choice. You may not think it a good thing but it IS 
choice. 

Rick - you and I can build capable linux distro's from free software but 
the average user can't and usually doesn't want to. What I try to do is 
let them know they have a choice. That is what I think open-source or 
free software is about.

What does "If you have to give your product away to get people to try 
it, your product is worthless" mean?

That years of free-sample marketing was a pointless waste of time?
That GNU/Linux is worthless because you don't have to pay for it?
Buy one get one free because it is a worthless product actually?

I've been using "free" software in business and home applications for 
over ten years. 
Thanks for your advice Rick, but I'd notice if I'd have been fooled by a 
software company.

I've heard all this before too. 

Don't take it personally, I just think you are wrong. 

Andy



-----Original Message-----
From: Rick [mailto:rick at ninjafoo.com] 
Sent: 18 February 2005 19:12
To: South Cheshire GNU/Linux Users
Subject: Re: [SC.LUG] [Fwd: Xandros Desktop OS Open Circulation Edition]

> Open Circulation a free as in beer release. As in you don't have to 
> pay for it.
> They are offering you a choice - a free distro or a commercially 
> supported one.

They are offering a free one because they have to. Look at what your 
money actually buys if you go for the commercial version.

http://www.xandros.com/products/desktop_matrix.html

Apart from some distro provided pap software (and that depends on how 
deluxe your feeling) the only thing you get with the commercial version 
is "Installation technical support via e-mail"

> And yes, you can download all that stuff for free - but you can't 
> create a distribution from all that software for free.

Of course you can (not that I am suggesting for one second that you 
actually try it), but you can run any other distro and have all the same 
free software installed by default.

> What you get when you pay for the commercial edition is .. Well, stuff 

> you might want to pay for.

But they don't have anything to sell (aside from the "Installation 
technical support via e-mail")

> This is a good thing. I like choice like this.

This isn't a good thing, this is using the open source software 
catalogue to ransom cash from users who don't know any better. 

"I tried Linux, but my version didn't have all the features I wanted. 
The super deluxe would have been great, but its half the price of 
Windows - Which I already own."

Don't be fooled into thinking a lot of Linux vendors equates to a lot of 
choice, in reality the choice offered to you by different vendors is 
nothing to do with the actual software you will be running at the end of 
the day. 

You are choosing brand, support, a packaging system, security attitude, 
user community and feel good factor.

> Sometimes it's good to get people using your product early - maybe 
> you'd offer a discount to early users as an incentive.

If you have to give your product away to get people to try it, your 
product is worthless. You are in effect sacrificing your business for 
better sales statistics - usefull currency if your dependant on 3rd 
party funding (because your sure as hell not making any money yourself)

> You may want to do that even if it hits your margins.

There is marketing, and there is offering every LUG member in the UK a 
45% discount.

> It doesn't seem very fair to beat somebody up publicly for offering 
> you a discount(and a choice) you don't want.

The're selling something I already have, chopped into lumps to make me 
pay more for it, discounted in such a way as to make me wonder if they 
will still be in business in 12 months AND I have to be greatful!

(I also love the way the boxed products are the exact same price as the 
download versions)

Rick

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