How could we give away Debian CDs/DVDs for free?
On 2006-09-22, Josselin Mouette <joss@debian.org> wrote on debian-devel:
> Le jeudi 21 septembre 2006 =E0 10:57 -0700, Sammy Nzazi a =E9crit :
>> Bonjour,
>> Nous avons commenc=E9 une serie d'=E9tudes sur le lunix et nous voulons e=
> n
>> faire le syt=E8me le plus repandu dans notre pays R=E9publique
>> D=E9mocratique du Congo. Aussi nous vous demandons de nous aider en
>> nous envoyant 20 cds de Linux d=E9bian car nous ne pourrons pas faire
>> des t=E9l=E9chargements. Ces Cds seront recopi=E9s et distribu=E9s
>> gratuitement avec un minimum d'encradement d'installation et
>> utilisation.
>> Car nous avons une =E9cole informatique dans notre organisation 'Eglise
>> Chretienne' Victory Chapel.
>> Merci d'avance pour votre concours.
>> Notre Adresse :
>> R=E9verend Samy Nzazi
>> B.P. 498 Limete
>> 00243 Kinshasa
>> R=E9publique D=E9mocratique du CONGO
>
> For non-French speakers, this guy is trying to spread Linux and
> especially Debian in Congo, but he cannot download our CD images. He's
> looking for someone who would send him 20 Debian CDs, which will be
> copied and distributed for free with some help for their installation.
>
This request reminds me of an idea I had:
What if we found some way to give away Debian CDs/DVDs to whoever wanted
them for free through the mail, like Ubuntu does?
We could either ship them from some central CD duplication plant, or we could
ship them from various places (this might also help cut down on customs fees).
Perhaps we could recoup the costs by somehow selling an IRC-, email-, or
phone-based for-fee tech support service. Perhaps the service could be
run partly or fully by volunteers. The service would be available in
addition to our current free support offerings.
Has anyone ever tried to set such a system up?
Also, if such a system would not be possible: Could we set up a standard
ordering form for users to buy Debian CDs at a fixed price from trusted,
reliable CD vendors from our "vendors" webpage? We could collect funds by
PayPal. People would feel more confident buying from https://www.debian.org
instead of contacting an individual in order to buy the CDs. Perhaps I should
file a wishlist request in the BTS?
Regards,
Jason
--
The church is near but the road is icy; the bar is far away but I will
walk carefully.
-- Russian Proverb
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