Re: Debian goes big business? [was: Re: Suggestion for RedHat (was: RH vs Debian)]
> > I don't think Debian is usable to found a company on that. No company
> > can actually control Debian, impose release dates and such needed
> > things (for a company). Even if it's feasible, no company ever SHOULD
> > have such rights, for Debian to keep it's spirit.
> >
> You are thinking in the wrong traditional terms. It's not about
> controlling Debian or imposing anything upon anyone. A company based
> on Debian would need a different business strategy. Just take into
> account what a company like Cygnus is doing for free software!
> A company basing it's business on Debian Linux should ideally be
> composed of Debian people and would mainly care in making Debian known
> as a viable product on the wider market. Generated income could be
> used to give full time jobs to Debian developers who could then fully
> concentrate on Debian for a living. This could probably help increase
> the release frequency and would provide a financial framework for
> Debian. At the moment it's really a pity that mainly third parties
> are generating income mainly for themselves and i believe we would
> considerably benefit if a company would do the same specifically for
> Debian. Wouldn't you like to be paid working for Debian?
My point is that this company would one day tries ot improve it's
revenues and influence the Debian distribution to fits its needs. Look
at the recent discussions about whether to ship Slink as i386 only, or
to wait until m68k and others are ready. If Debian had been
commercially distributed by a company, the choice wouldn't be taken on
a 'How can this help the Debian dists and end-users' basis, but on a
'How can we get the most bucks' basis.
So I think my argument still stands. We can't allow for someone to
sell Debian itself, it shall at every cost stay uninfluenced by any
other corporation.
What we could do in this approach would be to found a non-profit
organization (I think that's the place you and I are touchy) that
would do sidejobs on Debian. As for what it could do, let's see this
example list:
- Education and testing of Debian consultants. Guys who would debug
you're system for a fee. Kind of certification of proficiency program.
- Debian books and other such things. Maintain a support site.
- Centralized support, phone, e-mail, whatever.
- Shrink-wrapped, Cds with other useful apps. (Like Caldera's
partition magic pack, or pre-installed Office apps, etc.)
It would be in the goals of such an organization to provide publicity
and availability to the Debian dist, and to re-invest in that
particular dist. Which would get us a great deal of what we still
need: Money support.
Reply to: