[ubuntu-my] Shuttleworth wants to make money from Ubuntu

[Donald P Kong]

On Sun, 2008-06-22 at 12:22 +0800, zarul shahrin wrote:
> 
> On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 12:12 PM, Pepper Lim <pepperlim at 3people.org>
> wrote:
>         I hope I bring logic and reality to this discussion. In answer
>         to
>         Donald's question of how and why Mark Shuttleworth started
>         Ubuntu; the
...

 
> Thanks for the article, but i think I know Mark well enough and in any
> case I can always ask him directly if I have anything that I would
> like to know... I think you might need to learn more about him
> especially his background..
>  
>         
>         "Mr Shuttleworth also has a distant intention, somewhere in
>         the future,
...


>   Let's make it simple, Ok, He wants to make back his money, ok, he
> funded 10 Million per year...and even if he wants to make money, I
> think he has done enough to do it without anyone making a noise.. How
> about us? How much we have contributed to think that we deserved to
> profit from it? 
>    
> 
>         
>         We should follow in the same vein. It takes time and money to
>         get Ubuntu
>         to the next level in M'sia. I truly believe we need some funds
>         to get
>         Ubuntu to the next level of acceptance. Lets take the example
>         of "fear
>         of change". People are typically resistant to change but if we
>         could
>         assure new users that there will be adequate support for
>         Ubuntu e.g. a
>         phone call or an email, I am sure people will be more
>         convinced to
>         install Ubuntu. But who will man the phones and who will
>         answer the
>         emails? When I install Ubuntu for my friends, I promise them
>         my tech
>         support and it is horrible when they call me at odd hours
>         because they
>         can't get a file to open or a movie to run. No matter how
>         tired I am, I
>         have to answer their calls and be patient or they will change
>         back to
>         Windows.
> 
>   I thought many of us here have been doing this for FREE? and
> sometimes even taking out our own pocket money?

spot on


>         On the other hand, if anyone is able to freely give, then that
>         would be
>         most awesome!
> 
>  This community was built on that idea... 


Pepper,

your idea is not exactly new. paid support is an offering from
Canonical. how good are you with Ubuntu and Linux that you are willing
to start a paid-support service in Malaysia?

once you offer paid support, you are expected to solve each and every
problem. if not, you have failed Ubuntu and that make have an impact of
the spread of the OS.

the idea of Ubuntu is FREE. users who use Ubuntu should be taught to
read the manuals and search for answers online. i always think you
should teach a person to fish instead of giving them fish.

i have also helped a lot of friends install Ubuntu on their computers.
during the installation, i try to make the new user do the installation
themselves and guide them through the process.

 i also have to go through calls at odd hours to solve some problems.
but i take the approach that they should email their problems. then i
search and give them links that they should try. in the process, i also
learn more about solutions and encourage the new users to be a more
educated user.

no doubt there may be companies who have employers/employees who do not
want to tinker with their systems and prefer a paid support organisation
to service their needs. see my first paragraph above for that.





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Donald P Kong
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