A quiet board/ sorry/final thoughts

[Corey Burger]

On Jan 23, 2008 8:10 AM, Patrick <optomatic at rogers.com> wrote:
> Well again it hurts like hell to be called a spammer but with people
> filling up our in-boxes with obscene products and stupid stock tips I
> can understand Sebastien's concern and cannot blame him. In my defense
> it was one computer, a linux certified one, not available in Canada and
> not being offered with any kind reasonable mark up but still in the end,
> it was a commercial email on a volunteer based list, probably not a good
> idea.
>
> I am going to unsubscribe from this and the other Ubuntu lists shortly.
> I think I am out of my element but I would like to offer some final
> thoughts that I hope will be constructive. I have a small business
> selling lab instruments. The software to control these items is  between
> 5-40K and is all closed source. I spend everyday working towards an open
> source replacement. I have started to pay developers to do the work I
> cannot do.
>
> My interest in Linux is commercial based but is not entirely greed
> oriented. The labs I have for customers are fighting cancer, hepatitis,
> nutrient deficiencies etc. They are doing great work but they have their
> meager budgets eaten up by hyped up close source software. I want to
> offer a replacement. I am hoping to build a business around it
> a-la-redhat but in the end I don't care if I don't make a penny as long
> as this situation is remedied.
>
> So to get to the point I have posted several times to the
> ubuntu-dev-discuss list about making Ubuntu a better power user platform
> for commercial environments and I had suggested an Ubuntu entrepreneurs
> list as well. I have spent hours posting to these lists and all my ideas
> were either rejected flat out or simply channeled into an unrelated project.
>
> Bug #1 continues to haunt us. With the power and wealth of a small
> country they can continue to work deals and corrupt Governments. Linux
> provides an alternative but it is a slow burn that is making little
> progress in the desktop market. If we are ever able to send out a real
> challenge it wail have to be end-to-end. We need computer vendors
> thinking about us and we need to distribute linux products and open
> source services with greater speed.
>
> I presently do not know of anywhere to go to collaborate with others who
> wish to under take this.
>
> Sorry again about this morning post. Pleases keep up the spirit of
> volunteerism-Patrick

Hey Patrick,

I don't think that your email was spam. It was a commercial offering,
but you labeled it clearly in your subject line. There is no need to
leave because of it.

As for making a better platform for your work, the best way to do that
is to figure out exactly what is missing and then create some specs. I
would be happy to help you (within my extremely limited "free" time)
to get sort of thing going. I certainly know how certain bugs can bite
any "enterprise"-y use of Ubuntu, something that your average home
user wouldn't see.

Cheers,

Corey