The question of (would I pay) is a very sensitive one, Linux, and free software as a whole should be free, both as in beer and as in Speech, specially if you consider money to be a barrier , a great one at that. What if I as a distro put a price tag of $10000 on a Linux Distro, would any of you consider it attainable, or available of that matter ? ? I would rather you put the question in the form: Would I consider Donating money for the distro i use, or would i consider even buying a support contract for say $100 so I get immediate e-mail support for a year or something, that would be a bit more fair, specially toward the poorer of humanity, and they do represent the vast majority. Well, yes i would gladly donate a chunk of my beans for my distro. I would also participate actively in the development and improvement of Linux and free and open software, I would also participate actively, like you do, in the community, that is the bases for free and open source software, so propelling the movement and the software itself forword. Doing all that, can equate to a great amount of (Money). And you should remember, Open Source and free software, including Linux are not based on Money, they are based on the free spirit and will of the community that built them.
I was trying to put some thoughts down here, in a short and comprehensive manner, and Please Mitchell , don't take it in any negative way, I just spoke my mind. Obviously these (Big) questions need to be discussed, and arguments need to be presented. Check the GPL3 drafts regarding the opinion about de-emphasizing free as in beer in GPL3. The argument is you can charge for the software, also there is the requirement not to put obstructions in the way of getting the software, essentially contradicting oneself, money being a barrier. I think the wording was smoothed out in later drafts of GPL3 and largely the same language remained as in GPL2, essentially enabling the $price$ but not inhibiting free as in beer distribution, essentially staying with the donation + support contract model that has actually worked very well for the last couple of decades. Cheers Szemir On May 26, 2007 17:09, Mitchell Brown wrote: > http://www.clug.ca/node/500 > Latest poll is up :) > > As usual, we are always accepting ideas and suggestions for the poll, and > every other area of the site. > Please submit your ideas to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Thank you. > > -- > Mitchell Brown > CLUG Secretary _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
