What is Digg?19 Comments
- VIrus9, on 04/28/2008, -1/+9If it wasn't for things like this Cannonical would sink like a rock and Ubuntu would disappear completely. Let's face it, the commercial sponsors are in the game to make money. Luckily Cannonical is looking at the long term or they would've pulled out already.
Ubuntu has a reputation of being easy for the non-technical end user, which means it will spread faster than other distros, and as it spreads, development will move forward at an accelerating pace, not just for Ubuntu, but for Linux in general. - TeacherOfHeroes, on 04/28/2008, -1/+7It's not as if he's snubbed them in the past. Previously, he seems to have been quite happy to acknowledge the giants upon whose shoulders Ubuntu stands.
- TeacherOfHeroes, on 04/28/2008, -0/+5You didn't think that it being in the digg posting's summary was enough?
- TeacherOfHeroes, on 04/28/2008, -0/+5What is wrong with putting certified software (read: software guaranteed by Canonical to work properly with Ubuntu) first? It's not like the other options are hidden, or that you can't re-sort the list by name or popularity.
As far as ways of making Ubuntu profitable, this is about as benign as you can get. - akkibaba, on 04/28/2008, -0/+4If I have not seen further it is because giants were standing on my shoulders.
-Hal Abelson - benanzo, on 04/28/2008, -0/+4There's nothing wrong with the software program. This is how FOSS companies make money. It's called "services." Maybe you've heard of another FOSS company do the same thing, Red Hat anyone? It's OK to make money off free software, in fact, it's only a matter of time before the majority of money made in the software industry will be from similar services rather than the sale of licenses to *use* proprietary software.
- Sammi84, on 04/28/2008, -1/+4Having Ubuntu become the de facto desktop Linux distro is one of best things that ever could happen to Linux and free software as a whole.
Too long has free software been divided. The Ubuntu banner is strong and inspiring, and it will carry all that is open, far in to the public light. - Nogger, on 04/28/2008, -0/+2Indeed. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarkShuttleworth
"What if Ubuntu's success means Debian dies?
That would be very bad for Ubuntu. Every Debian developer is also an Ubuntu developer, because one way to contribute to Ubuntu is to contribute to Debian. [...] Without Debian, Ubuntu would not be possible."
And he is a longtime Debian Developer (since 1996), to top it off. - weizbox, on 04/28/2008, -0/+2I think Firefox was a pretty good/huge thing to happen to free/open source software as a whole ;) It's way bigger than Linux or Ubuntu ;)
'Too long has free software been divided.'
Did you mean choice and diversity instead of 'divided'? If you actually meant 'divided', what did you mean? And has that changed? - sagar1986, on 04/28/2008, -2/+3If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
- weizbox, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1Canonical makes a lot of money in other areas that have nothing to do with what I'm talking about. Support, training, custom engineering and hardware verification are a few examples of things that don't touch the distro other than possibly better support for hardware, which I think we all agree benefits Linux overall and is only a positive thing.
'If it wasn't for things like this Canonical would sink like a rock'
If by 'things like this' you mean EVERYTHING Canonical does that involves earning money, than yes, they would sink, but that would be servery spinning what I said. Just because I don't like ONE thing they do, doesn't mean I want them to stop EVERYTHING they do. I don't want them to stop support, training, and all of the other services they provide. You really think if they just dropped this one tiny feature included in their software partners programme that all of the sudden Canonical would sink? I think we all know they would be just fine...
I was specifically mentioning the 'Benefit', 'Preferred listing in Ubuntu Software Repository'. You seemed to think I was talking about all of the services that Canonical provides. It's a very big difference.
'Ubuntu would disappear completely'
You really think so? You think somehow the community that develops it now, would somehow just stop if Canonical left? How do all the other distros manage? Even you said 'as it spreads, development will move forward at an accelerating pace', correctly suggesting that the development is coming from the community. It's not all Canonical, and you clearly acknowledge this in the second part of your statement... but you seem to ignore it in the first part while making the case that Ubuntu NEEDS Canonical's money or else it would disappear.
Sorry for thinking that a Linux software repository listing should be based on something other than money. What a radical concept... - weizbox, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1..but that would be severely* spinning..
I think we can all agree that digg needs to have expandable input boxes for comments.... makes it a bitch to review the longer ones :) - TeacherOfHeroes, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1"Canonical has a ton of different ways to make money", and yet last I heard, it still wasn't turning a profit.
I get the impression that this is more to appease businesses. In a corporate desktop or server environment, I'm not sure that saying "all the software in the repos [should] work fine" will get you very far. An actual certification is much more impressive as a guarantee.
Also, what really constitutes a preferred listing, anyways? Appearing first? Do they put a little icon next to it in Add/Remove along with the heart or the "integrates well with" ubuntu logo? I'm sorry, but I just can't get outraged about them "recommending" software that they've guaranteed as working well - weizbox, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1'As far as ways of making Ubuntu profitable, this is about as benign as you can get.'
Canonical has a ton of different ways to make money... I doubt they need this one benefit of one service to make money. I just would prefer it if they kept things like this out of the distro, and focused on what they do best, services. The software program for the most part is just fine... it's just that one benefit that I strongly disagree with.
As well.. shouldn't all the software in the repos work fine to begin with and not need a guarantee from Canonical? They certainly advertise it as such.. and for the most part it seems to be true. Remember, it 'Just Works'. ;) - weizbox, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1'and yet last I heard, it still wasn't turning a profit.' That's very true.. but I think we both can agree that the money that IS coming isn't because of one benefit of one service they provide.
'An actual certification is much more impressive as a guarantee.'
I completely agree... but just because Canonical certifies something, doesn't mean they also have to modify the repos because of it. I don't want to start seeing a tier system in the repositories.
I'm also trying to get more info on the preferred listing and what is needed to get one, etc. I just received an email after a week and a half of waiting since I sent them an email asking for more details on the Software Programme and more specifically, the preferred listing. Their response: 'It comes with Partner Status'. No wonder they are losing money if they're treating inquiries and potential clients like this. - TeacherOfHeroes, on 04/28/2008, -1/+2Choice is great, but picking sensible defaults from those options is even greater. Other distros will continue to exist, but Ubuntu seems to be becoming the 'sensible default' for may users.
- weizbox, on 04/28/2008, -1/+1I have no issues with making money off open source software at all via services, etc. The only thing I have a problem with is the preferred listing in the repos.
Why did you twist what I'm saying to include ALL services when I'm just talking about ONE benefit of ONE service? - weizbox, on 04/28/2008, -7/+2Very well said Mr.Shuttleworth.
Now just stop giving a preferred listing in Ubuntu software repository to your software partner clients, and instead base it on something other than who pays you.
For anyone who doesn't already know about the 'Software Programme', read: http://www.ubuntu.com/partners/softwareprogramme - schestowitz, on 04/28/2008, -9/+3Here's the relevant bit:
"We all owe a great deal to the team who make Debian’s “unstable” repository possible, and of course to the upstream projects from GNOME and KDE through to the Linux kernel."
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/147
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