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

[Carlos Costa]

Martin,

I remember the early days, when everybody was able to download and use
the redhat linux "for free", without pay for it. Today I'm glad to say
thanks to redhat because they decide by change their market to supply
only what the Enterprise needs... because that decision debian get
opportunity to grows and today we have ubuntu. What is the lessons
learned from it? in my opinion are:
1) you should ship the software for free, no charge... and you will be
the most famous, respect and important brand used by most of the
users. Or...
2) you should ship software with charges... and you focus on a niche
market like the enterprise. Other brands will ship it free, and will
grow replacing you in the free market.

If they decide by something that remember option (2), they are
assuming the risk of several users left the project... that is the
consequence.

Anyway, I dont know if "ship software with charges" is the direction
they are adopting with the release of "Ubuntu Software Store", I'm
thinking this is just (and only) a case of wrong software name
ehehehe.

Let's wait and see if this is the direction they are taking, ok? :-D

With best regards,
Carlos.

On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 2:14 PM, Martin Owens<doctormo at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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,
>
>