y does free s/w cost so much??

[rude bwoy]

have any of u checked out what linux is
retailing for these days?

it's like $70 or $80 for the cd!

i got a new h/d and and i was gonna put
rehat 6.0 on it. when i realized what
they were selling "free" s/w for i decided
to install 5.1 on the drive and download
the rpm's i need.

i understand that effort goes into packaging
and distribution - but the people who should
be getting the money (the programmers) are
not!

what's the deal???

the rude