Ubuntu Software Store: What it does, and how you can help

[Martin Owens]

On Sun, 2009-08-30 at 13:38 -0300, Carlos Costa wrote:
> I recommend you to read "Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future
> of Business" [1] to understand what I mean.
> 
> My point is: "make a donation" is more the way to support the ubuntu
> foundation then buy/sale some software :-)

I don't agree. Proxy funding can only get you so far, it has no parity
with the costs of the actual development work and it's got a weak axis
between the wants of those being serviced and the development choices.

What do you think will happen to Red Hat when they don't have Microsoft
or Oracle to base their prices off of? What do you think will happen
economically to support services when there is a free market? It'll
reduce in profit until it can only afford to pay for the support
business and no more. It's already happening.

I think the best bets so far are; direct self interest from developers,
self interest from businesses who can afford to pay programmers and
direct payments to developers for everyone else. This last part is
currently missing.

Martin,