Best Buy Is Selling Ubuntu | Hacker News Reader

Best Buy Is Selling Ubuntu

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8 pointsmace22 comments

I don't understand why the tech media is making such a big deal out of this. The FSF clearly allows for this in their licensing. They could charge $100 or $1,000 for this if they felt like it, as long as they are not attempting to close its source.

The reaction should be positive, if anything. Linux distros have been for sale on computer-store shelves for years; OpenOffice.org shows up sometimes, too. Installfests sometimes ask for a few bucks for the disks if you want to keep them.

I believe the GPL requires a "reasonable" price, though, corresponding to shipping/handling/media/convenience. So $50-$100 is justifiable, but $1000+ less so. A court challenge to someone hawking $5,000 Debian licenses to BigCo would probably still be tricky, though, since it's easy to claim the extra cost is for installation support, expertise, etc.

Judging by past FSF lawsuits, it seems to be easiest to tag a reseller for failing to include a GPL notice or instructions for getting the source code.

My understanding of the GPL is that you can sell the software for any price you wish. However, if you do not include the source code with the product, you must distribute that source code at a reasonable price to all askers.

Yes, you're right:

    Does the GPL allow me to sell copies of the program for money?

    Yes, the GPL allows everyone to do this. The right to sell copies is part
    of the definition of free software. Except in one special situation, there
    is no limit on what price you can charge. (The one exception is the
    required written offer to provide source code that must accompany
    binary-only release.) 

    Does the GPL allow me to charge a fee for downloading the program from my
    site?

    Yes. You can charge any fee you wish for distributing a copy of the
    program. If you distribute binaries by download, you must provide
    "equivalent access" to download the source -- therefore, the fee to download
    source may not be greater than the fee to download the binary.

(Source: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMone...)

Furthermore, this was apparently a cooperative movement between Canonical, ValueSoft and BestBuy to make a more accessible and user friendly Linux available to the masses.

http://blog.canonical.com/?p=18

Viva La Linux Revolution!

i think the tech media is making a big deal about it because they're basically scalping the OS, using their big name to make a profit on an item that anyone can request for free.

it 'appears' that they're not burning the cds themselves, they're taking the things that ubuntu ships out on request, putting a price tag on them and putting them on the shelves. it seems predatory.

but, as you said, its legal.

EDIT: jesus tapdancing christ, people, i'm regurgitating the common argument, this is not actually what i believe. calm down.

First, who wants a pressed CD? Maybe your conn sucks. Maybe you don't want to mess with BitTorrent. Maybe you can't burn a disc. Maybe you just get the warm and fuzzies having something official. Or maybe you simply don't know about something until you see it on a shelf.

What are your options? Order for free and wait 6-10 weeks. Order on Amazon for $12.99 plus shipping and wait about a week. Drive to Best Buy and pay $20.

I don't see how that's predatory. The cost is about convenience, shelf space and distribution. And it's nice to know Ubuntu is competing with Windows someplace physical.

My first copy of Linux, SuSE 6.2, was bought at Best Buy. It came on 6 CDs. There was no way I was going to download that over a 33.6 modem.

So long as Best Buy abides by the terms of distribution I say more power to them.

I had a similar experience. My first copy of linux was the RedHat 7 distro that came with "Linux for Dummies", and it cost $20. At the time I didn't have a CD burner or a good connection, so it made sense.

It was also nice to have the book, even if it didn't make me much better than being a Dummy.

I downloaded my first copy of slackware onto floppies over a 14.4 modem, and it took something like a week. Now get off my lawn, you damn kids!

I think your claim that they're somehow using Ubuntu's free CD package is a bit of a stretch. It's a big claim to make without any backing evidence. Don't you think Ubuntu would take notice if Best Buy asked them for 5,000 free copies?

Best Buy has been selling Linux distributions for years - I bought a copy of Slackware in like 99 or 2000 because I didn't want to spend the time downloading it; as an added bonus, it came with a manual that I could let my girlfriend use if she wanted to toy around with it.

Good call, I highly doubt Best Buy is getting free copies from Ubuntu. If they are pressed by Ubuntu they must be paying something for them, and it is perfectly reasonable to sell at a profit because as someone else said they are selling the convenience.

But I don't understand why Ubuntu gives away officially pressed copies for free, even to individuals. I think there should be a price to cover the manufacturing costs and to support Ubuntu. The OS itself of course should be free (in the gratis sense, but obviously also the libre sense).

I think the same is true for music, which I normally download for free, but will pay for some nice artwork and officially printed CD (or vinyl record), especially if I want to support the artist.

It's a loss leader for them. The idea is that if they can get enough people using Ubuntu, then their actual business (Ubuntu support) will grow, because they will have a larger consumer base to support.

i ordered a few kubuntu CDs a while ago and use them to convert my less technical friends to kubuntu. People just like pretty packaged CD's. I would.t buy them though, but its a good idea, from canonicals side to shipped these free CDs. Its like a free demo, if you like it, you buy support. It seems to be working, they are still not out of business, i don't know how profitable they are though.

It helps that Mark Shuttleworth has F-U money. He's coy about Canonical's revenue/profitability, but last I heard, they're not profitable yet -- but their planning is long-term and very ambitious. Blurb:

"That means that we can fundamentally change the business model of the OS industry. Of course, it till take time to prove that we can achieve this, but we have a superb team and now that Ubuntu is well established we see increasing demand for services from Canonical, which is positive."

-- http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/148

Sometimes when people "pay" for something, they value it more or perceive it to be better. If this aids *nix uptake, I'm all for it.

I guess if people want to pay for something that is widely reported as being free, then let them pay for it. Maybe once they become emerged in Ubuntu goodness, they will awake to their error in paying for something they could have burnt themselves for free - likely causing some customer relation issues for good old Best Buy along the way.

On a related note, I would personally like to offer 'air' (not to be confused with AIR), a simple and easy to use fusion of nitrogen and oxygen - for the low price of 19.99!! Also, for a limited time I am offering CrapSquad support for the low-low of 99.99 per service call. Act now!

Some people like paying $$$ to people who give them valuable goods and services. Just because the distribution cost is close to zero, it doesn't mean that the value of the product is close to zero.

Thanks for the condescension. I couldn't agree more on cost not equating value - I am an avid Ubuntu user and would gladly pay for its value as an operating system. The above was a joke - apparently not a good one, but a joke none the less. It was intended to be delivered at the expense of BestBuy, not Canonical - surely you are not presenting them as providing valuable service ;) But alas, a joke that requires an explanation was clearly not a well executed joke to begin with - I retract. Thanks for the education on value and economics. sheesh.

This is really good news and from what I've been read the tech media response is largely positive. I don't use Ubuntu or any linux distro for that matter, but if the option is there I would recommend Ubuntu over Vista, XP, most anything else (except OS X) because of the value of that deal. The funniest part of this story is one of the customer reviews on the BB website from a person in "Moronville, KY"

Just curious... Do people really buy linux off the shelf? Why? The packaging? Docs? Box?

many, many years ago before i even knew what linux was, i saw redhat linux being sold at a computer store on the shelves with other software.

its box had screenshots on the back that made it look appealing, it came with a nice printed manual, and it was on a cdrom. this was back when everyone was still using dialup connections and the thought of downloading an entire operating system over it would have turned me off from trying it.

buying that was what enabled me to become interested in linux and unix in general. during my initial learning period, i consulted and made notes in that printed manual many times.

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