> On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 23:21, Faldegast <email address hidden> wrote:
> > In 2007 the market for a software store was very immature. Now everyone
> > got one. There is Appstore, Android Market, Chrome Web Store, and
> > Microsofts specs for Windows 8 suggests they are planning one.
> 
> I think it is necessary to have a software store - for one reason:
> Just to make it easy to buy the commercial software one wants to use -
> and then of course the installation must be easy (which on Ubuntu in
> general already is). If it is hard for people to find, buy and install
> the software they want to use (and maybe don't know the name of the
> tool upfront), they might blame the OS for it.
I think thats one reason. Attracting the developers that currently does not target Ubuntu/Linux is another.

 
> That said, regarding making money with/for/from Ubuntu (I read in the
> news about the money perspective) I thought of the core advantage of
> Open Source Software: Pay for effort - for work.
> 
> Nobody thinks of paying a yearly license for having tubes in the wall
> - no - people pay the plumber when they need him/her for putting
> additional tubes or doing repair work. I think, it should be the same
> for software. The advantage of software is that it can be easier
> duplicated and easier offered than the tubes.
Actually they do. Its called insurance. You pay a monthly fee and if your tubes need to be repaired you are not hit with a overwhelming cost.
And thats quite similar to software support agreements. You pay a yearly fee and when you run into problems, you have someone that will fix it. There is a huge difference between FOSS business models and closed source business models. If i don't want commercial support, i can download and use the software. If i want commersial support I can buy RHEL subscriptions, as an example. The software however, is still free.

> In addition to a software store I think what should be introduced in
> the same easy way is something like pledgebank
> (http://www.pledgebank.com/) - a platform that allows to easily put
> money together for implementing feature x or asking for fixing the bug
> y. Let's say 20 companies are asking for the same thing that maybe
> costs - lets say - 10000 dollar to implement/fix, it would cost 500
> per company. And this payed for one developer working for
> approximately a month (assuming a country with high taxes).
Perhaps this should be integrated with Ubuntu brainstorm, and other sites where such pledges get more exposure?
There are also cofundos.org, and possibly other sites?

> Asking money for using Ubuntu in general (if it is only 10 Dollar, I
> read about such ideas a few days ago) is not a good idea IMHO. In
> Hungary for example Microsoft is asking a similar amount for student
> version of Windows+MSOffice (yes it is like drug-dealing in front of
> the schools...).

We already have such an offer for students. Its available for download at www.ubuntu.org. :)
I am talking about a commercial version with support, marketing and distribution. And more important, an OEM program. 

Actually i think Microsoft expect Students to buy a computer with an OEM license and then get the student version, and actually pay more then they have to.... and thats even more evil...

> DonationCoder (http://www.donationcoder.com/) also have several
> approaches for funding software development, from micro-donations up
> to custom-made software request handling through forums. I think, to
> build an "Ubuntu" for people seeking for programs to be written or
> bugs to be fixed, combined with a simple way of donation/payment,
> would be a big gain for Ubuntu. - Especially for companies with need
> to optimize their overall performance (and the computer is often an
> important tool for efficient administration in a company).
Actually i think that is great. But most users don't take time for this. They would rather buy a box and expect the source of that box to fund such development.