[Debian-uk] Re: Expo aftermath

[Philip Hands]

At Sun, 27 Oct 2002 19:44:41 +0200,
Russell Coker wrote:

> I think that the best way of making money from the distribution business is 
> taking a free distribution (of which I think Debian is the best, but you 
> could use something else), doing some extra testing etc, adding some 
> user-friendly stuff, and adding some commercial software.  Then anyone who 
> tries out Debian and wants to use it at their company will be forced to use 
> the Debian + commercial distro.

I take it that by "Commercial" you mean proprietary, or non-free.

As I explained once already, I think that making a distribution depend
on proprietary software is a great way to ensure that it will be
trampled underfoot by the forward motion of Free Software.

What could possibly "force" someone to use the hybrid distro you
mention?  If you charge more than they feel is fair fo the support &
programming enhancements thay get, they will go to the free distro,
and either put up with it or perhaps get a few like minded people to
fund the eyecandy they prefer.

That being the case, why not just charge for support, and so bring
some clarity to the situation?

Cheers, Phil.