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Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

arstechnica.com

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Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#11

Post by jiggy2011 »

jakubw wrote: post #5

Presenting this screen before you can actually get the OS does not make much sense for new users. They won't know if "hardware support on more PCs" or "performance optimisations" will be any important for them. It'd be more sensible for this to show up as a built-in screen after you've used Ubuntu for a few months.

True, the issue in particular with "hardware support" is that the biggest problems desktop users seem to run into with Ubuntu is video drivers for nvidia/ATI and it doesn't seem like there's much canonical can do about those anyway.

Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#12

Post by baddox »

ghshephard wrote: post #2

So, the tricky question is - what if we can't afford that? Does that mean that, ethically, I should no longer use the product if I want to honor Canonical's request?

Obviously, the implication is to pay what you think it's worth to you. They're not asking for you to pay the entire industrial value of the Ubuntu ecosystem divided by the number of users.

Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#13

Post by DasIch »

fingerprinter wrote: post #4

Holy freakin' hell that is an awful headline. This is a DONATION, nothing more. Canonical is not asking people to pay, it is asking people to donate if they are so inclined. The press releases states that Ubuntu is and always will be free. Use Ubuntu and want to give some money for it? Great. Donate. Now there is a way where previously there was none. Use Ubuntu and don't want to give money? Great. Don't donate. Don'…

Optional payment != Donation.

Given that Canonical is commercial I very much doubt that they are even allowed to take donations.

Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#14

Post by furyofantares »

ghshephard wrote: post #2

So, the tricky question is - what if we can't afford that? Does that mean that, ethically, I should no longer use the product if I want to honor Canonical's request?

I'm not sure what you mean by "can't afford that."

If you think Ubuntu provides you with $X in value but you literally do not have $X to your name, well, I'm not sure how it could be providing $X to you, then.

You could be totally broke and feel like Ubuntu has the potential to provide you with $X in value (by helping you get a job, for example). You could just donate when the value is realized, not before.

Maybe you didn't mean that you literally don't have $X, but instead meant that you might not feel like it's worth paying $X for what you get out of it. In that case your choice of X was simply too high.

I don't really like the phrase "Pay what you think it's worth" for two reasons.

One of my issues with it is that it's easy to think of it as a fixed impersonal price rather than something that varies from person to person at any given time.

The other issue is that, as a developer, I do NOT want users paying what my products are worth to them. I want them to pay less than that, so they get something out of the deal. I want people to be better off for having acquired my software, I do not want to extract 100% of the value they get out of it in exchange.

Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#15

Post by forrestthewoods »

jakubw wrote: post #5

Presenting this screen before you can actually get the OS does not make much sense for new users. They won't know if "hardware support on more PCs" or "performance optimisations" will be any important for them. It'd be more sensible for this to show up as a built-in screen after you've used Ubuntu for a few months.

It'd be most sensible to show up at multiple, carefully selected points in time.

For example all Xbox Live Arcade games are required to have a trial (demo) which can be seamlessly upgraded to the full version at anytime. Every trial is required to award the player an Xbox Live achievement and Xbox Live Avatar Item at some point. When receiving either a pop-up occurs saying "You've earned , unlock the full game now to keep it". Or something to that effect. Then of course there is a final upsell at the end of the trial.

Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#16

Post by cooldeal »

jakubw wrote: post #5

Presenting this screen before you can actually get the OS does not make much sense for new users. They won't know if "hardware support on more PCs" or "performance optimisations" will be any important for them. It'd be more sensible for this to show up as a built-in screen after you've used Ubuntu for a few months.

While you're correct, I think such a message after installation and use will make it feel a little like nagware(a bit like how Windows prompts you to activate it) even if its a one time.

Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#17

Post by dkulchenko »

DasIch wrote: post #13
fingerprinter wrote: post #4

Holy freakin' hell that is an awful headline. This is a DONATION, nothing more. Canonical is not asking people to pay, it is asking people to donate if they are so inclined. The press releases states that Ubuntu is and always will be free. Use Ubuntu and want to give some money for it? Great. Donate. Now there is a way where previously there was none. Use Ubuntu and don't want to give money? Great. Don't donate. Don'…

Optional payment != Donation. Given that Canonical is commercial I very much doubt that they are even allowed to take donations.

Canonical is commercial, the Ubuntu Foundation is not: http://www.ubuntu.com/news/UbuntuFoundation. Ubuntu's been accepting donations for quite a while, long before they added this.

Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#19

Post by systematical »

Not a bad idea. The areas where I have the biggest problems with Ubuntu is hardware support and new updates just breaking my system. It's so bad that I REALLY want to just go to Debian Stable as my primary OS. I just can't handle that much downtime to switch over at home and the office.

I'm a developer. I don't give a shit about a fancy desktop. I just want my hardware to work good with the O.S. and for updates not to wreck my system. Why? Because I just want to write code, run what services and daemons I need, and read shit on the internet.

It's really fn frustrating. I've been using Ubuntu for 4 years solid now when I ditched Windows. I'd be willing to donate to the two areas I highlighted, but if shit didn't get better....

Re: Canonical asks desktop users to “pay what you think Ubuntu is worth”

#20

Post by joe_the_user »

systematical wrote: post #19

Not a bad idea. The areas where I have the biggest problems with Ubuntu is hardware support and new updates just breaking my system. It's so bad that I REALLY want to just go to Debian Stable as my primary OS. I just can't handle that much downtime to switch over at home and the office. I'm a developer. I don't give a shit about a fancy desktop. I just want my hardware to work good with the O.S. and for updates not t…

I think Unity is the least worthwhile part of Ubuntu but since it's already here, I'd like them to fund an alternative, not remove funding and keep it as it is.

Edit: The page should a "make the desktop less awesome" side of the slider. If Unity is what they mean by "awesome", it should be slid back.

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