[LUAU] Ubuntu... Legalities

[Jim Thompson]

On Jun 5, 2006, at 8:12 PM, Maddog wrote:

> Jim,
>
> One point I think most of the FOSS community misses is that it's  
> great if you have the technical knowhow to find, install and  
> troubleshoot these free softwares. The majority of users in the  
> world either don't have the time, or don't have the expertise to do  
> that or simply would rather point and click. Probably why Linspire  
> has half a chance to get a foothold in replacing Windows XP

 From what I can tell, (k)unbuntu is as easy to drive as linspire,  
and costs less.

> If you had a choice to buy gas for $3.35/gallon right down the  
> street on King Street or drive to Millilani (if you live in town)  
> and pay $3.09/gallon, where would you most like fuel up? A large  
> majority would go to the more expensive station out of convenience.

I think you'll find they're "better off" paying the $3.35/gallon at  
the local station.

Lets say you've got a car with a big tank, perhaps 20 gallons, and  
you manage to arrive in Millilani with 1/4 tank or less, so you can  
manage to squeeze 16 gallons in on your fill-up.   You've "saved" 16  
x ($3.35 - $3.09), or $4.16 on your fill-up, and you had to drive to  
Millilani and back.

Google says its 17.9 miles from Lionel's 76 at 1505 S King St,  
Honolulu, HI 96826
to the Chevron a t95-130 Kamehameha Hwy, Mililani Town, HI 96789

  If you burn just 1 gallon of gas, (your car averages 36 mpg, which  
I find unlikely) you've only saved $1.07, and you have yet to  
consider what your time is worth.  (Google says its 30 minutes each  
way.)   I find it more likely that your car gets around 22mpg, so it  
cost you $5.05 in gas to drive to Millilani and back.   Even if you  
manage to arrive running on fumes (with an empty tank) you've spent  
$5.05 to "save" $5.20.

This doesn't even make sense if you're driving something that holds a  
lot of gas, because most of these vehicles guzzle gas.

GM rates Hummer H2 at 10-13 mpg.  The Ford Expedition gets 14-19 mpg,  
and the three-quarter ton Chevy Suburban gets 13-17 mpg.

The standard H2 holds 32 gallons, the Expedition holds 28 gallons and  
the 3/4 Ton Suburban holds 26 gallons.   We'll assume that you can  
manage to arrive in Millilani running on fumes (impossible with these  
fuel injected engines, and same will shorten the life of the fuel  
pump, but I digress, and give you the benefit of doubt.)

Suburban: 26 * $0.26 = $6.76 fuel savings, cost to drive to/from  
Mililani: $6.51
Expedition: 28 * $0.26 = $7.28 fuel savings, cost to drive to/from  
Mililani: $5.82
H2 32 * $0.26 = $8.32 fuel savings, cost to drive to/from Mililani:  
$8.51

at the other end of the scale:

Prius 51mpg (highway) and holds 11.9 gallons.   $3.09 fuel savings,  
cost to drive to/from Mililani: $2.17

Keep running the numbers, it starts to make sense to drive to  
Millilani if your car holds about 100 gallons of fuel.

> There are societal issues that prevent FOSS from becoming dominant.  
> Maybe if Linux distributions concentrated on that they would be  
> able to infiltrate the market to a higher degree.

Conquering the market (especially while sweeping freedom under the  
rug) is the stance taken by many "open source" advocates.   Others  
(including Free Software advocates) value freedom over 'market share'.

> I think the new wireless models have taken notice, free with lots  
> of ads or pay a bit for no ads. We'll see if it works but as I  
> recall an ISP tried that without success.

unlicensed wireless will only succeed when its free ($0 cost).   I  
say this as the former CTO of Wayport (a for-pay "hotspot" ISP), with  
a lot of wireless experience ever since.   Point in fact, we sell  
gear to a lo of folks who are trying to install for-pay wireless.

I think any forced ads will be quickly defeated.

> Maybe a combo FOSS and for pay model works? Mandriva seems to live  
> by it and judging by the bottom line they have had some success.

There is value in support, and there is money in customization,  
because nobody's time is "free" (at least, not all the time).

As for the "Windows vs. Linux: The Great Battle" stance, it is very  
much a Marketing Myth. The only people who believe this myth are  
people who are susceptible to believing marketing crap.   I've found  
that companies trust suppliers who respect their choices.   That cuts  
both ways.