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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”

#51

Post by jiggy2011 »

dfc wrote: post #35
jiggy2011 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

ATI drivers? The open source ATI drivers have progressed wonderfully recently. I never even flirt with the idea of tainting my desktops or laptops with proprietary drivers. The situation is different with nvidia but I am still happy with the machine I have with an old nvidia card I purchased for mining btc. What problems do people have with the free ATI drivers?

This is from June, here are some benchmarks of the proprietary Catalyst driver vs the open source driver built into ubuntu.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_r...

I'd be shocked if they'd made up that huge gap in 3 months.

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

#52

Post by mekoka »

Every couple of months, I recharge my Themeforest account (html templates), as well as my Moniker's (domain names). I pay and they credit my account, which makes it easier to buy goods, without the hassle of a payment process. The thing is, while I put in $50, I probably only use $10 at a time and my account can stay credited for months. I'd be ready to bet that by the time my credits have all been spent, the money I originally paid for them has accumulated some interest for these vendors. This revenue model is rather common.

If Ubuntu sold vouchers that allowed me to buy software at a slight discount, rather than connecting to Paypal each time, I'd pay for it. The best part is that it has the numbers and the products to make it work for them as well.

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

#53

Post by dfc »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #51
dfc wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ATI drivers? The open source ATI drivers have progressed wonderfully recently. I never even flirt with the idea of tainting my desktops or laptops with proprietary drivers. The situation is different with nvidia but I am still happy with the machine I have with an old nvidia card I purchased for mining btc. What problems do people have with the free ATI drivers?

This is from June, here are some benchmarks of the proprietary Catalyst driver vs the open source driver built into ubuntu. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_r... I'd be shocked if they'd made up that huge gap in 3 months.

I have never noticed any performance problems with free ATI drivers. Have you used the free drivers and thought it felt sluggish?

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

#55

Post by jiggy2011 »

dfc wrote: post #53
jiggy2011 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is from June, here are some benchmarks of the proprietary Catalyst driver vs the open source driver built into ubuntu. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_r... I'd be shocked if they'd made up that huge gap in 3 months.

I have never noticed any performance problems with free ATI drivers. Have you used the free drivers and thought it felt sluggish?

I switched to an nvidia card about a year ago because the free ATI drivers either gave terrible OpenGL performance or some apps didn't work at all because features were missing from the drivers and the proprietary drivers gave me all kinds of horrible glitches.

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

#56

Post by jaipilot747 »

I'm not sure about the installer demographics or user base of Ubuntu Server, but assuming that users who install the Server edition would be more Linux-savvy than newbie desktop users and be able to appreciate how much value Ubuntu brings them, wouldn't it make sense to show this screen there as well?

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

#57

Post by munchhausen »

pdw wrote: post #29
Wilduck wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used Debian stable as my primary OS for a couple of years. While I was just fine without the fancy desktop, at the time Firefox was stuck on version 3.0 even though 3.6 was available. I don't know what the situation is like now, since I haven't used linux on my laptop for a couple years, but if I were to go back, I would want something like Debian stable, but with an updated browser.

There's now the backports service, http://backports.debian.org/ where you can get newer versions of packages recompiled for stable.

And using this service of course partially defeats the point of using Debian stable at all, at least for the packages that you install from backports.

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

#59

Post by sandGorgon »

So, I use Ubuntu as my daily driver. But, I am deeply conflicted about this. Primarily because I have heard/read that Ubuntu does not spend its money on developers (expecially core, kernel, fs) and rides on Debian and Red Hat. Secondly, until fairly recently, parts of Launchpad were closed source. Third - there are other groups like Postgres, Openssh, etc which need funding more desperately.

What will the donation amount of be used for? More marketing - which I understand is equally necessary, but unworthy for me right now - vs things like hiring and paying developers?

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

#60

Post by munchhausen »

jrockway wrote: post #43

"Tip to Canonical - they help make it happen" That's why the packages end in .cpg: "Canonical PackaGe"?

Are you insinuating that Ubuntu is just a Debian with a different name slapped on it? If that is the case, then you must not have used Ubuntu at all.

As a Ubuntu user, I like the Ubuntu Software Center and being able to install Skype and Dropbox through it and not having to scour the web for packages compatible with my system. I like some Unity features such as the dash and the HUD, because they greatly simplify discoverability of features that I do not use on a daily basis. I like the fact that Canonical certifies Ubuntu on a variety of hardware and I can therefore purchase my next laptop or server with the knowledge that my preferred OS will work fine on it.

I could go on, but I don't think there is any need - it's pretty clear that Canonical makes a lot of things happen apart from building .deb packages.

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