Gentoo Forums
Gentoo Forums
Gentoo Forums
Quick Search: in
would you be willing to pay for linux if you had to?
View unanswered posts
View posts from last 24 hours

Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next  
Reply to topic    Gentoo Forums Forum Index Gentoo Chat
View previous topic :: View next topic  

Would you pay for linux if you had to?
Yes, i'll support and use linux at all costs
17%
 17%  [ 60 ]
Maybe, depends on the price
36%
 36%  [ 125 ]
Never, i use it because it's free
29%
 29%  [ 100 ]
pay?...I would use a pirated copy
16%
 16%  [ 57 ]
Total Votes : 342

Author Message
Mystilleef
Guru
Guru


Joined: 27 Apr 2003
Posts: 561
Location: Earth

PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2003 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It seems SCO's hulla ballo is directed at commercial linux users and not private users.

Regards,

Mystilleef
_________________
simple, sleek and sexy text editor for gnome

"My logic is undeniable."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
TheCoop
Veteran
Veteran


Joined: 15 Jun 2002
Posts: 1814
Location: Where you least expect it

PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2003 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

do you think that would stop them?
_________________
95% of all computer errors occur between chair and keyboard (TM)

"One World, One web, One program" - Microsoft Promo ad.
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer" - Adolf Hitler

Change the world - move a rock
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
TealVeal
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 04 Apr 2003
Posts: 92

PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not one penny for tribute.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Jimbow
Guru
Guru


Joined: 18 Feb 2003
Posts: 597
Location: Silver City, NM

PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

IMO, your saying "_IF_ SCO won then ..." is like saying "if pigs had wings then ...". You can fill in the ... with any true or non-true statement and the entire sentence will always be true. SCO won't win.

Along those lines I would have preferred an option:
    [ ] Millions for R&D but not one cent for tribute!


H'mm, maybe it's time to update my sig.

Edit: Apologies to TealVeal. Didn't see your post before I posted.
_________________
After Perl everything else is just assembly language.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jonfr
Veteran
Veteran


Joined: 20 Jul 2003
Posts: 1008
Location: Denmark

PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

na, i woud go the theaft way.... :twisted:
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
TealVeal
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 04 Apr 2003
Posts: 92

PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2003 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jimbow wrote:
Apologies to TealVeal. Didn't see your post before I posted.


It's ok, great ideas are thought by many at the same time :) Nice kernel option btw :D
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Spire
n00b
n00b


Joined: 01 Dec 2002
Posts: 22
Location: Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 12:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would pay for an entire suite of software if the price was very low. If the price was about 1.5 times the price of a new game (or higher), no, unless the quality of the software for it was far better than it is now. I doubt I would pirate Linux, though it would depend on how bad I found Windows to be and the availability of pirated copies. I would likely pirate some version of WIndows. The price tag is ridiculously high for a student (like me) with a negative yearly income.

I don't believe that pirating software drives it's price up, just that it drives the profits of the company down. I think that companies will generally take the hit rather than raising their price significantly above industry standards. The upward movement in prices is more likely due to the larger amount of work that needs to be put into modern software (I'm thinking primarily of games, really).

As for why I would pirate Windows as opposed to Linux, the reason is that I want to be guarenteed a system compatible with what everyone else has, even if that system is horribly made. Yes most things work in Linux all of the time, but I still favour an option where all things work most of the time.

Assuming I did pay for Linux, the reason would be the same as pretty much everyone else who has posted. I would like to see that others' money really was improving the overall quality of Linux software.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
chizu
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Posts: 127

PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 3:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would certainly pay, but not to SCO, and only if I got the freedoms of using the source code (under at least bsd license, if not the gpl). So I would just keep doing what I do now, occasionally donate to FSF and certain OSS projects.

Of course sco cannot succeed. Their case is only valid in U.S.A. (due to our VERY broken copyright and patent laws), linux would certainly survive quite well out side of the land of DMCA. Plus Linux is not a lot of the actual system (just the kernel), so if sco managed to charge for the kernel and/or make it illegal, the community would just laugh at them or create a 'new' kernel using 99% of the code already written, rewrite the lost 1% of the code and continue on. Or we could use the Hurd, or *BSD kernels. Or we could all move to Australia :D

As I see it SCO is irrelevant to the real future of GNU/Linux.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bashir
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 23 May 2003
Posts: 107
Location: EU (Ger)

PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I will pay for supporting the developers - not for SCO.
I will pay for good Linux books - not for M$ publicity

And I will pay for my faults. :twisted:

bashir
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
kesuari
n00b
n00b


Joined: 18 May 2003
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No. I will not pay money for Linux. If the choice was pay money for Linux or don't use Linux, I'd use Windows XP Home, as I have a legal licence for it, or (for preference) FreeBSD if it has support for my hardware.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Glorandar
n00b
n00b


Joined: 15 Jun 2003
Posts: 64
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 9:17 pm    Post subject: Pay extortion money? not a chance... Reply with quote

Let me think... SCO says "pay me or I'll have my ugly lawyers beat you up in court!".

The only service I see them offering is that of leaving us alone. Thus, they can go to @&#$.

SCO reminds me of the gangsta protection rackets that we have all heard about. The only differences are suits instead of leather, and subpoenas instead of baseball bats.

The day it becomes illegal in Canada to run GNU/Linux without paying some legally entitled scum is the day I install another operating system.

If you want my coin you have to offer me a service that I value.

Don't get me wrong. I have paid for GNU/linux distributions. I have no problem with that. Those vendors offered me services that I was, and will continue to be, happy to purchase at a fair market price.
_________________
----- Glorandar
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
d3c3it
l33t
l33t


Joined: 01 Mar 2003
Posts: 765
Location: Manchester, UK

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i have done, brought suse in the past. id donate to linus or the other developers, i wouldnt pay a penny to sco thou. the mafia did what there trying to do, its called racketerring ;)
_________________
Some people go to counselling,
others use linux
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
shagrat
Apprentice
Apprentice


Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 219
Location: Norway

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can see myself paying for a cd-sett, but not for licencing costs. After all I never bought any of the M$ products I've used.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
binny
n00b
n00b


Joined: 30 Jun 2003
Posts: 37
Location: Liege, Belgium

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 1:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

GNU Philosophy wrote:
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer.''


yes, I'm ready to pay for using linux (I already did it)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
schrojo
n00b
n00b


Joined: 23 Jul 2003
Posts: 1
Location: The REAL Windy City, Lethbridge

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would certainly pay for Linux, but I wouldn't pay it to SCO. SCO is just trying to pull an MS trick here and start harvesting illegitimately.

I would pay for a distro of Linux so long as the money was going directly to the development of Linux. Have a look at it now ... you have to pay for Windows (at a price that classifies as highway robbery), but with Gentoo specifically, you can (a) download an ISO and pay for your blank media; (b) same as a and make a donation to the Gentoo development team; or (c) buy a CD set from the Gentoo store for a measly $15. Honestly, what's $15 for an operating system?

Personally, I think it's wrong just to use Linux because it's available for free. Granted, that's one of the big things that attracted me to Linux, but let's realize that we're getting a quality product at no charge (as opposed to paying loads of cash for crap [read: Windoze]) ... it doesn't hurt to contribute to the finances of these development teams.

And whoever it was who wants to see SCO die a quick and painful death ... AMEN BROTHER!!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
masseya
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva


Joined: 17 Apr 2002
Posts: 2602
Location: Baltimore, MD

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

binny wrote:
GNU Philosophy wrote:
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer.''


yes, I'm ready to pay for using linux (I already did it)
I have always had a problem with this analogy because it implies that there is some direct benefit to a user. If distro XYZ wanted to abide by the GNU public license and distribute their modified source code of some other piece of GPL software, they can do that at whatever price they deem necessary. They are not required to make this process easy at all, let alone free as in beer. The freedom granted in the GPL isn't on the user end (as both free speach and free beer are). It's on the distributor end.

Sure another distributor would be capable of taking the source code and modifying it to produce something else of similar quality, but the user only sees indirect benefits. I'm not saying that these benefits are worthless, I'm just saying that they are not as direct as this analogy implies.
_________________
if i never try anything, i never learn anything..
if i never take a risk, i stay where i am..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
binny
n00b
n00b


Joined: 30 Jun 2003
Posts: 37
Location: Liege, Belgium

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

masseya wrote:
I have always had a problem with this analogy because it implies that there is some direct benefit to a user. If distro XYZ wanted to abide by the GNU public license and distribute their modified source code of some other piece of GPL software, they can do that at whatever price they deem necessary. They are not required to make this process easy at all, let alone free as in beer. The freedom granted in the GPL isn't on the user end (as both free speach and free beer are). It's on the distributor end.

Sure another distributor would be capable of taking the source code and modifying it to produce something else of similar quality, but the user only sees indirect benefits. I'm not saying that these benefits are worthless, I'm just saying that they are not as direct as this analogy implies.


It's where GPL leaks... BSD License is imho better for that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Unne
l33t
l33t


Joined: 21 Jul 2003
Posts: 616

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've paid for it in the past (to Redhat and Mandrake). I'll pay to gentoo as soon as I can afford it. Would I pay if I HAD to? If gentoo said "Hey look, we're bankrupt, we need money or gentoo goes away", sure I'd pay. If a company says "WE PWN LINUX, pay us or die", nope, I wouldn't pay.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
luap
n00b
n00b


Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Posts: 54
Location: atl,ga,us,na,wh,earth.

PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i have purchased mandrake 8.0, redhat 9.0, suse 8.0 and 8.2,
as a non computer guy looking for the magically perfect linux os.
i've downloaded mandrake 8.1 and 8.2, libranet 1.? and 2.0, best linux,
knoppix 3.1.
if i wasnt using gentoo right now, i would buy libranet 2.8.
if gentoo goes commercial, i wouldnt have any problem paying for it.
i will not pay for mandrake, best, or even redhat again, for various reasons.
what do i expect for my money? a slick distro, one that works right out of the box(exception-gentoo-i had fun and learned putting it together),
one that provides decent support, not this 30 day crap and we're booting you from our update network cause our servers are crowded . i want support for getting weird devices working -you know, the ones that work in windows, like sound cards and new graphics cards.(kind of kidding, but if you pay for your os, it should work for you, not you for it)
frankly there are no distros providing really great support.
but linux is relatively inexpensive, relatively secure, and getting more user friendly. so if i wasnt using a free gentoo, yep, i'd pay for a quality
distro like libranet, suse, or even gentoo (marketed as the "learning tool"
for linux?). there is quality/value in libranet and suse(and gentoo) for those like me who aren't linux gurus. i see the money as well spent.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
senectus
Guru
Guru


Joined: 17 Jul 2003
Posts: 534

PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 3:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It all comes down to "Value Add"

If it adds vlaue, I'll buy it.. If all it does is take money away.. then stick it up your kiaser! :-P
_________________
2800+XP A7N8X FX6600GT
www.modmeup.net |
Belief is 9/10 of YOUR reality.
Wise man say: A skilled troll is a master baiter.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
EzInKy
Veteran
Veteran


Joined: 11 Oct 2002
Posts: 1742
Location: Kentucky

PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 3:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have and will continue to pay or donate money to my favorite open source projects. The attraction of Linux is that the software is free as in speech, not just as in beer. I would not, on the other hand, pay SCO one red cent for their closed source garbage.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
LJ
Apprentice
Apprentice


Joined: 27 Dec 2002
Posts: 156

PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 5:41 am    Post subject: Re: would you be willing to pay for linux if you had to? Reply with quote

hook wrote:
_IF_ SCO would succeed and would take some parts of linux under their own license they would (very possibly) want money for it ...so what would you do IF that would happen

Don't be silly. SCO doesn't have a leg to stand on. Look at the facts--all they're trying to do is threaten other companies a lot with no real weapon hoping to god that some poor saps who don't know their head from their foot to buy some SCO stock.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
senectus
Guru
Guru


Joined: 17 Jul 2003
Posts: 534

PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 5:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also I'm pretty sure their code that they claim was stolen is stuff thats based around big end server requirements.. Its got bugger all to do with desktop enviroments..
_________________
2800+XP A7N8X FX6600GT
www.modmeup.net |
Belief is 9/10 of YOUR reality.
Wise man say: A skilled troll is a master baiter.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Techie2000
Guru
Guru


Joined: 16 May 2002
Posts: 344

PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I were required to pay, and the product were at this current stage, I'd say no. I'd want something to replace XFree86 that would be much faster, I'd want lots more games working on it, and for all brwoser plug-ins to work perfectly with all browsers without having to spend lots of time configuring stuff. I'd want the fonts to not look ugly on the first boot-up. And all sorts of other stuff...
_________________
"And I'm right. I'm always right, but in this case I'm just a bit more right than I usually am." - Linus Torvalds
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
masseya
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva


Joined: 17 Apr 2002
Posts: 2602
Location: Baltimore, MD

PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

binny wrote:
It's where GPL leaks... BSD License is imho better for that.
I'm not overly familiar with the BSD License. Can you point me to the part that you think improves on the GPL?
_________________
if i never try anything, i never learn anything..
if i never take a risk, i stay where i am..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Gentoo Forums Forum Index Gentoo Chat All times are GMT
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 3 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum