Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Software

Using Computer Stores to Spread Open Source? 407

Posted by Cliff from the ninja-marketing dept.
DigitalRaptor asks: "I live in a small city with about 4 or 5 computer stores, most of whom I know personally. None of these stores offer Open Source software on the computers they sell (Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, etc), and none of them have anything in place to educate their customers about spyware and viruses. I'd like to approach them with all of the relevant information in a presentable format. I think this would be a great way to spread OSS and to help the average consumer at the same time. Is there a project out there for this purpose that local advocates could use to approach computer stores in their town?"
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Using Computer Stores to Spread Open Source? More

Using Computer Stores to Spread Open Source?

Comments Filter:

  • Killing the revenue stream... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:33PM (#12666690)
    They make money cleaning spyware and viruses off computers. Why would they educate their users about them?
    • Exactly, I install free SW on all the PCs I fix, but that is because I don't like fixing crap all the time and don't need this type of repeat customers. A computer shop however has different motivations.
      • A computer shop however has different motivations.

        They are motivated by a need to profit, not because they are greedy corporations, but because they need to pay the rent, by the sales and service staff a fair wage, etc. These things require an income stream.

        However, there is nothing inherent in open source that prevents making aprofit from it. They can't charge for the code, but as I recall they can charge a reasonable fee for the media its distributed on. They can give classes on its use. They can char

      • A good computer shop, however, won't let a computer leave the shop if they KNOW there is a recurring problem. Taking the time to install the anti-virus or anti-spyware programs and explain why they are important and how to use them builds repeat customers.

    • Re:Killing the revenue stream... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by miketang16 ( 585602 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:40PM (#12666742) Journal
      I work for a computer repair shop, and yes we do make a lot of our money by cleaning viruses and spyware off of systems. However, we also never let a system leave our shop without it having an AV program, Ad-Aware, Spybot and MS Anti-Spyware on it. We also explain to the customers how to use them.

      The open source idea is good and whenever I work on a system I'll try to present customers with open source options.
      • You do if someone's not willing to pay for it.
      • I run a small ISP and computer store in western Nebraska. It always comes down to what I am about write. Linux is simply far to difficult for the common windows user to operate. Many of the users that bring computers in don't even understand how to use the file system. Someone like this is not even going to be able to use yum or apt-get more less build an rpm or install from source. It's all in ease of use for most computer users. Until Linux can be used like windows by the totally clueless and you can buy

    • Ummm... many reasons. (Score:3, Interesting)

      by The Tyro ( 247333 ) *
      I suppose it depends on your point of view. If you're a total mercenary, you wouldn't show a customer jack-squat. You might even deactivate their built-in SP2 firewall. After all, the more infected their PC gets, the more you get to charge (by the hour, 'natch) to fix it. It's a neverending revenue stream...

      If you're a smirking misanthrope, you probably get a kick out of delivering the same condescending lecture to all your spyware/virus-infested "luser" customers. Why would you ever push some free to

  • make it tangible (Score:5, Interesting)

    by icepick72 ( 834363 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:33PM (#12666693)
    First of all the Mozilla project (for example) should produce a boxed version of their product suite. Store customers want somthing tangible. Microsoft could offer everything as downloads only, but instead they package it into a fancy box. I would suggest the cost of the open-source software should cover the packaging and that's it.

    • Re:make it tangible (Score:3, Insightful)

      by NineNine ( 235196 )
      And how exactly are stores supposed to make money from this? This whole article is ridiculous. Indepdent computer stores are already pinching pennies to compete with the big box stores, and the online merchants. Why would a store replace one of their last remaining revenue streams with a non-revenue stream? Computer stores aren't going to stay alive selling beige boxes with $10 markus. It ain't gonna happen, and I think that most know, which is my no store (that will be in business in the near future)

      • And how exactly are stores supposed to make money from this?

        By selling it at their standard markup. It's Mozilla that he's suggesting sell it at cost.

        Why would a store replace one of their last remaining revenue streams with a non-revenue stream?

        Revenue from sale of closed-source browsers and email clients? Not bloody likely.

        Computer stores aren't going to stay alive selling beige boxes with $10 markus.

        They can provide added value by installing Free Software at no significant cost to

    • Re:make it tangible (Score:5, Insightful)

      by NitsujTPU ( 19263 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:43PM (#12666773)
      If you charge consumers the price of packaging, then that is what they will feel it is worth.

      Toss in a manual or something, make the box a little heavier, charge the printing cost, and you get a bit of free advertisement as well (and heck, you know that people might buy the box just to get the manual).

      Now, toss in a bit on top for the Mozilla project, the FSF, the Apache Foundation, or whoever is selling the software, and you have something that is eye catching and benefits us all.

      It's funny how people reject a cheap or free product as crap, but you know that they do.

    • Re:make it tangible (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Spoing ( 152917 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @08:38PM (#12667032) Homepage
      First of all the Mozilla project (for example) should produce a boxed version of their product suite.

      Normally, they do. [mozilla.org]

      The store is closed at the moment, though when it is open they do sell manuals, manuals with CDs, CDs, or a whole kit from the Mozilla store. I think I remember them giving discounts for bulk purchases, starting at 10 units. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

    • Mozilla at least do - I just went to check details, but it appears they've taken the store "offline for renovation" (why do people do that with websites?).

      From what I remember you can buy either just Firefox+Thunderbird on CD, or you can buy them with a manual as well. They aslo offered 10 packs.

    • If you're approaching this from a security standpoint, and want to provide the best experience for the end-user, Mozilla (and many other open-source outfits) need to sell packages to the vendors. Sell a stack of boxes, manuals, adhesive CD labels, and printed CD sleeves to the local shops. That way, Joe's Computer Shack can buy 200 boxes and not have to worry about the software going out of date. Just burn a decent-quality CD-R of the latest build, pop it in the sleeve, and snap the box into shape. Or b

      • yeah that unfortunately means the stores still have to burn the cdrs which could be quite time consuming.

        what mozilla really needs is the ability to update without re-downloading everything. Its kind of a kick in the teeth to sell users a boxed copy of a peice of free software only to have them have to download the whole thing again soon after to get a security patch.

  • TheOpenCD (Score:5, Informative)

    by slavemowgli ( 585321 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:34PM (#12666698) Homepage
    Have you checked out TheOpenCD [theopencd.org]? That one contains a number of well-known and useful open-source applications for Windows; it should be easy to make (possibly customized) copies of that one to include with new computers, for example.

    • Re:TheOpenCD (Score:3, Interesting)

      by XpirateX ( 691224 )
      I made my own "Open CD" just for giving out to friends / family / whatever that has an assortment of my preferred OSS. It's not terribly difficult to start from scratch, and with the OpenCD, you can just go through and pick it apart to make something customized for each shop (give it branding).

      Pop in the "Store X" cd with software (and free updated cds, of course). Have a problem with one of the programs? You know who to contact.

      Earlier post with all the software from my disk. [slashdot.org]

  • Why? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NineNine ( 235196 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:34PM (#12666699)
    Why would the stores listen to you or care? Honestly, Slashdotters (admittedly, like most people) have no clue what it takes to run a successful business. Independent computer stores have been hit very hard by the fact that geeks have no loyalty, and shop mainly at big box stores, and generic online merchants (tiger direct, etc). The *only* way that the few remaining independent computer stores, which are already probably struggling, will even begin to listen is if you have a way for them to improve their bottom line. Bottom line.

    Ideals about "Freedom" don't really matter to people if you can't pay rent. You'd do well to remember that before you started preaching to them about how they should run their business.

    • Re:Why? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by serutan ( 259622 )
      Why would the stores listen to you or care? ... [rest of rant trimmed]

      This is Insightful? The submitter wasn't asking how to get small computer stores to martyr themselves for Open Source. I think he wants to know how to make it worthwhile for them to offer it to customers. The fact that the stores want to stay in business is a given. Maybe you're confusing open source with Free Software. They aren't one and the same. There are lots of businesses making a living off open source. The submitter also mentio
      • > Maybe you're confusing open source with Free
        > Software. They aren't one and the same.

        All Free Software is open source. Are you one of those people who labors under the delusion that it is not legal to sell copies of programs licensed under Free Software terms?

        > There are lots of businesses making a living off
        > open source.

        There are lots of businesses making a living off of Free Software.

        • Re:Why? (Score:2)

          by Kesh ( 65890 )
          All Free Software is open source.

          You seem to have the two kinds of "free" mixed up here. Free Software generally refers to "free as in beer," meaning the author charges nothing for the software. The code itself is not necessarily given out with such programs.

          Open-Source Software seems to be what you're referring to, in which the code is freely available for distribution. There is a difference in the two.

          • You will note that he said "Free Software", not "free software".

            Yes, English sucks, but Americans wouldn't accept it if we called it Software Libre. ;)

          • Re:Why? (Score:3, Informative)

            by Pedersen ( 46721 )
            Umm, actually, you are the one who has the terms mixed up. Free Software (note the capitalization) is, by definition [gnu.org], free as in speech. Open Source software is not the same, and makes a few concessions to allow businesses an easier time at making money (in addition to being a more business friendly term). Finally, free software (again, note the capitalization) is simply free as in beer, and does not (normally) show you the source code.

    • Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by schnarff ( 557058 ) <alex&schnarff,com> on Saturday May 28, 2005 @08:05PM (#12666892) Homepage Journal
      geeks have no loyalty, and shop mainly at big box stores, and generic online merchants (tiger direct, etc).
      There's a good reason for this: independent computer stores, for the most part, offer no added value, while charging a ton more than the aforementioned. Don't get me wrong, I like the little guys, and I got out of my way to buy from them whenever I find a good independent shop. The problem I have is that there's less and less places like the one I frequented in Centreville, VA (now defunct) where they did honest service and got good parts when things died, and more and more places like my now-local one in Arlington, VA where they don't even carry Ethernet cords and know less about hardware than your average A+ certified luser. Create some value for me, and I'll shop with the little guy every time.
    • geeks have no loyalty, and shop mainly at big box stores, and generic online merchants (tiger direct, etc)

      There are geeks that still shop at Tiger Direct? [slashdot.org]

    • The only way I can see a small store staying in business is by offering services. Keeping networks running and the such. There are a lot of small businesses that need geek help.
      How to use open source to make a profit. Easy offer your help setting up and configuring it.
    • You bring up a really great point - the holy shrine of the bottom line. Key goal of the small shop owner seeking dinner, and the big box store exec seeking earnings per share (or whatever measure you wish to use - they key is PROFIT).

      That said, the trend in the software industry is to suppor the bottom line not with product, but with services. We have seen organizations such as Red Hat and IBM excel based on services, not on a specialized product.

      So, the question becomes, why do people bother with the loc

  • Do I smell a business model? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Txiasaeia ( 581598 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:34PM (#12666700)
    "Is there a project out there for this purpose that local advocates could use to approach computer stores in their town?"

    No. Please post a sourceforge link when you're done ;)

  • The Open CD (Score:3, Informative)

    by ErichTheWebGuy ( 745925 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:35PM (#12666704) Homepage
    The Open CD [google.com] includes a lot of open-source software, including Open Office, Thunderbird, Firefox, Gimp, etc. I've got a few stores here in my local area distributing the Open CD, and they say they have had great success. The key is the rep educating the customer when he or she buys a new system about the dangers of viruses and spyware, so they have to be willing to go along with it. But the good news is that there is already a compilation of applications for that purpose.
  • and hand them a few of these in DVD cases with nice covers.

    http://www.theopencd.org/ [theopencd.org]
  • A great source of open source information might come from the Linux User Group in the city where/near you live. LUGs are, yes, dedicated to Linux, but at the same time they might have someone who is also well versed in other Open Source projects.
  • Microsoft Publisher is great for making professional looking presentations... :PP~~~

  • I've wanted to do this too (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LoTonah ( 57437 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:37PM (#12666725)
    I work in a computer store, but the position of management (and it's been similar at a lot of stores I've visited or worked for) is that they don't want to push/give OpenOffice because they don't make money on it. In the retail market, it seems like value-added services don't matter anymore...if there isn't a profit to be made, it won't be touched.

    Same goes with programs like AVG, Spybot, etc...we use the utilities in the service department as part of our spyware/virus cleaning services, but that's as far as it goes.

    Trust me, I'd love to load our systems with Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, etc., but the retail culture here doesn't allow it!
    • Since when can you sell alternatives to Firefox or Thunderbird? Your post doesn't make sense
    • Why not propose offering a service to install more secure (open source) products for a fee. Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org, Ad-Aware, Spybot, AV, etc. Say, "We'll secure your computer, show you how to keep it secure and give you several free productivity programs. All for only $49.95.
    • I work in a computer store, but the position of management (and it's been similar at a lot of stores I've visited or worked for) is that they don't want to push/give OpenOffice because they don't make money on it.
      Why not? They can sell it for whatever the traffic will bear, with a zero cost of goods sold.

    • Same here (Score:2, Informative)

      by IoN_PuLse ( 788965 )
      Same thing at my shop, plus the management doesn't want to learn about anything open source or free, generally only what microsoft/symantec/someothercorp will spit out. Even when it's obviously terrible software, open source alternatives are not considered. OpenOffice has made some inroads but as soon as one glitch comes up where it doesn't render a MS format properly everyone starts bitching. It's like that is worse than having to call microsoft when we upgrade a motherboard and they won't let a paid lice

      • Re:Same here (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Tim C ( 15259 )
        OpenOffice has made some inroads but as soon as one glitch comes up where it doesn't render a MS format properly everyone starts bitching.

        I work in a professional environment. Sometimes I have to produce Word documents, sometimes I have to accept them, and sometimes the ones I accept I have to edit and redistribute.

        If Word screws up the formatting, it's embarassing, but at least I used Word - my arse is covered. If I choose to use OOo and it screws up the formatting, it's my fault for using a non-standar

  • the Windows Toolbox (Score:5, Informative)

    by thegoldenear ( 323630 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:38PM (#12666730) Homepage
    the Windows Toolbox - http://thegoldenear.org/ [thegoldenear.org] - all the software on one CD
  • I haven't heard of any computer store do such... yet. Maybe like with everything, it takes someone to start it. So go and talk with them. Maybe it could end up like at my work .. doing tech nites about stuff like wireless networking or security or encryption for the people to learn more about them after work hours, enjoying the company of the other geek work mates and company sponsored pizzas.

    Maybe if one computer store would have such evenings, they could get some money back of it (parts, peripherals.. se

  • Ahh *cough* (Score:3, Insightful)

    by NitsujTPU ( 19263 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:39PM (#12666740)
    I think that if you were on the Mozilla project, and said, I contributed to this fine software, I was wondering if you'd like to carry it in your store, that that would be a swaying argument.

    I think that if you were a consumer, purchasing computer equipment, and asked if they had the item, and you said you'd like to buy it, then they would probably listen.

    If you said "my goodness, it appears that you're not carrying open source software... I don't want any today, but I think that you should carry it," that you'll sound pushy, no matter what you do, and that you're more likely to drive store owners away from this.

    Seriously, did you change faiths last time someone came around your neighborhood asking you to do so?
    • My recent experience:
      I'm in a shop picking up a Serial ATA Controller, Seagate hard drive, and 2 gigs of ram, (total $500+). I asked the guy if they carried linux. I really needed it as my hard drive was dead and being replaced, I wasn't evangelizing. They didn't have it , they did know what it was, and apparently had little interest in getting it. This is also the last time that I'll do business there.
      When I lived outside of Seattle, my local shop had all the major linux distros for $5 each as a value adde
      • Ok, sure, but have you checked out DOA XXV yet?

        Nah, but really, jamming your agenda down someone's throat won't help either. Speak softly, big stick, and all of that...

  • Similar Q - best distro for donated computers? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) * on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:43PM (#12666770)
    I had thought a while ago that as a public service, it might be nice to donate time to various goodwill/salvation army stores around my area and offer to load usable software on them - an OSS package that would be set up to most efficiently use the P-166 computers that are generally found in such places. Does anyone know of a good distro for such a use? Something that could easily set up for dial-up access would be good I think...

    I have in fact a P-166 sitting right here that was donated to an org I work for that I was thinking to try out the plan upon, since I wanted to wipe the HD anyway before passing it along. Possibly the org might even use it as an office computer.
  • Some people from the german wikipedia thought it might be a good idea to sell the wikipedia for 20 on dvd.
    And managed to get to no on the amazon.de software charts.
    That much to the (always and often) voiced question about who would pay for something that could be get on the net for free.

  • Users (Score:4, Insightful)

    by shawkin ( 165588 ) * on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:50PM (#12666809)
    Most people coming into a retail store are not ubergeeks. To a basic user, packaging sells stuff. Once they buy something, it has to be easy to use and install.

    To expand Linux into this market, everything needs to pass the grandmother test. If she doesn't read a manual, san she install it and make it work with less than 15 minutes of phone support?

    As experienced users, we often forget that most people have much better things to do with their time than learn how to make a user hostile computer work.
    • Just to point something that might be a similar situation to others:

      My grandmother doesn't know how to install office or windows.

      She does sometimes use my computer if she ever needs information. I have Firefox installed, and I direct her to places like wikipedia.org or the cia world fact book if she's ever interested in geographical information about other countries.

      Also my grandfather uses a word processor to type out his family tree documents that he works on. He wouldn't know the difference between
    • I would *love* to see Windows pass this test.

  • There is no reason not to be commercial (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MichaelSmith ( 789609 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:51PM (#12666817) Homepage Journal

    Offer to preload your own Linux distribution. It could be a cut and paste from Ubuntu for example.

    Include plenty of advertising for your support services and wait for the phone calls to start.

    Most likely you will have to cut the stores in on the deal, perhaps they will take the hardware work and you get the software work.

  • Previous discussion (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bish.dk ( 547663 ) <haasNO@SPAMitu.dk> on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:51PM (#12666822) Homepage
    There was a (somewhat) similar discussion previously, which might give some pointers.

    Open Source CD Lending For Public Libraries? [slashdot.org]

    IIRC one important conclusion was that the libraries feared getting in a position where users started to expect support from them regarding the products. I could imagine that computer stores would have similar reservations.

  • It is difficult to sell free software CDs in shops (Score:3, Interesting)

    by paj1234 ( 234750 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:53PM (#12666828)
    It is much easier to give librarians the choice and ability to lend them out in libraries, says this article:

    http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/12/14/1 545216&mode=thread&tid=132&tid=151&tid=82 [newsforge.com]

  • Tried and True method (Score:4, Funny)

    by killproc ( 518431 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @07:54PM (#12666833)
    I think that there is a more enlightened way to spread the word about OSS.

    1. First, travel to a strange town with a buddy.
    2. Dress in a white shirt (button down collar), black pants, and a black tie.
    3. Ride bikes.
    4. Go door to door asking if you can "Share the good word" about OSS.
    5. Profit!!! (Oops, wrong list...)

  • "None of these stores offer Open Source software on the computers they sell (Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, etc)..."

    To my knowledge, no one actually sells a (support) license or a retail box for any of these products. (Maybe OO.org... but definitely not FF or T-bird.)

    So, who is going to support these additional software packages? Who is going to be responsible for the software if/when it breaks, or if/when Firefox leads to a virus infecting the computer?

    Geeks often forget that a major part of

    • You speak the truth. Although, I don't think Firefox is too much to ask. As to OpenOffice (Hey, why hasn't MS sued a la Lindows?), MS Office won that war, it does what people want the way they want it done. Could be cheaper, but so could a lot of things. OpenOffice is quite good, but it's not "enterprise" yet, and hate PowerPoint as much as you want, biz likes it, and OO's version is flaky at best.
    • At least, when you have a licensed copy of MS office, and it goes whacko, you can call up MS and demand that they fix it.

      Microsofts 'fix' typically consists of 'format and restore.' Heck, that's most PC manufacturers as well. Learning how to use the event log and google is invariably better in all situations.
    • At least, when you have a licensed copy of MS office, and it goes whacko, you can call up MS and demand that they fix it.

      You can demand all you like.

      Nine times out of ten, the tech in the shop that sold it is gonna end up getting the call.
    • Well, why can't the stores make money off supporting it?

      "We'll include this better browser, as well as Internet Explorer. If you want to learn more about it, you can buy this user guide (which we're reselling from the Mozilla store) or you can pay $25 to come to our open-source class held every other Tuesday night."

    • Re:Eh, and who is going to support the oss...? (Score:4, Informative)

      by hankaholic ( 32239 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @09:14PM (#12667219)
      To my knowledge, no one actually sells a (support) license or a retail box for any of these products. (Maybe OO.org... but definitely not FF or T-bird.) (emphasis mine)

      You should really ask someone to update mozilla.org then -- they seem to think that "[t]elephone support at 1-888-586-4539 is available for Firefox 0.9 and above, Thunderbird 0.8 and above, and final Mozilla release versions 1.5, 1.6, and above. $39.95 per incident." When you mention this to the webmaster, mention that you saw the text above at http://www.mozilla.org/support/ [mozilla.org].

      So, who is going to support these additional software packages? Who is going to be responsible for the software if/when it breaks, or if/when Firefox leads to a virus infecting the computer?

      Who is responsible if/when Internet Explorer breaks, or if/when it leads to a virus infecting the computer? Last I checked, Microsoft won't "be responsible" either, in terms of cleaning up messes they allow to be created through bugs in their software.

      Geeks often forget that a major part of the computer industry is support. [...] At least, when you have a licensed copy of MS office, and it goes whacko, you can call up MS and demand that they fix it. Can the same be said of the OSS that you listed?

      Support is often a consideration with enterprise-level deployments. For such cases, there are third parties that are more than happy to offer support for OSS software. Sun themselves offers support contracts for OpenOffice.

      For home users of Office, Microsoft offers two free phone support incidents, but only if your copy came from them. If it came preinstalled, you'll have to call your PC vendor (who will likely do very little to help) or pay Microsoft $35 per incident ($245 for "advanced issues"). I'd imagine that most people didn't buy a retail copy of Office, which means that there's no free support for the average user.

      and there is no 1-800 number to call for help, either.

      Microsoft offers an 800 number only for the fee-based support. If you bought a retail copy of Office (which is the example you gave), and are taking advantage of one of your two free incidents, you'll be calling (425) 635-7056.

      Maybe before citing the myriad of support options available from OEMs at reasonable costs to home users, you might consider the real-world availability to those users. Bundled software is up to the PC manufacturer to support, and generally their support ends by suggesting use of the system restore CD. This means that bundled software is virtually unsupported, and the average user isn't likely to pay tons of money for a retail box -- they'll borrow from a friend long before, and anyways are so used to being pushed aside by ineffectual support departments that they expect very little in terms of vendor support anyways.

    • Re:Eh, and who is going to support the oss...? (Score:4, Informative)

      by cbiltcliffe ( 186293 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @10:59PM (#12667650) Homepage Journal
      At least, when you have a licensed copy of MS office, and it goes whacko, you can call up MS and demand that they fix it. Can the same be said of the OSS that you listed?
      No, you can't. At least, not if it's an OEM copy, which is what you're likely to get on any computer you buy. The manufacturer of the computer is supposed to support OEM stuff, which puts them in the exact same place as they would be with F/LOSS.
      Would you rather support something that you can see the code and actually fix, or something monolithic and obscure that may or may not have a patch forthcoming? I know which I'd pick....

  • It is capitalism (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 3770 ( 560838 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @08:07PM (#12666897) Homepage
    The best chance that this can work is to find a way that both the consumer and the computer shop can save money.

    For example, the store can offer a computer and a choice of two software packages.

    package a) commercial software with Norton and Microsoft works or Office and so on.

    package b) the free software alternative but the store can tack on $50 on the computer price.

    Well, you say, they can't charge for free software. While that is true, they can "fiddle" with the numbers. They can raise the base computer price $25, and offer a $25 rebate if you buy the commercial software package.

    They can also sell a 1 year support contract for package b for $50 (and then they buy the service from Geeks on wheels or something for $25).

    There, they make $50 ($25 + $50 - $25) for selling a system with free software. And the customer saved even more.

    Win-win.

    What is good is that the store builds a relationship with geeks on wheels and that can also be translated into money. For instance, whenever Geeks on wheels services that computer they would buy the part or software from the store.

    The remaining problem is that the computer shop buys their computers from HP (for instance) and they may refuse to sell a system without at least MS Works on it because of some contract that they in turn have with Microsoft.
    • Well, you say, they can't charge for free software.

      Sure, they can. Any price they want. No one generally tries selling open source software because who would buy what you can download for free. Then again people are stupid so maybe there is a lot of money to be made selling oss software to the unsuspecting.
      • Well, if they are paying extra for free software that's already installed.....
        They aren't throwing away their money, they are spending money to make more of their personal time free.

        There are companies that have no other product than "free" software.

    • Well, you say, they can't charge for free software.

      That's not quite true. You can charge money for free software, unless the license explicitly prohibits it. The GPL for instance doesn't prohibit you from selling software, but it doesn't prohibit the customer of copying and redistributing the software either.

      They can raise the base computer price $25, and offer a $25 rebate if you buy the commercial software package.

      Where I live, 3 out of 4 computer shops have gone out of business because of th

  • But (Score:2)

    by davmoo ( 63521 )
    Your heart is in the right place, but I'll bet money that not even 1 store would take you up on your idea. Why? Because your idea does nothing to make them more money, and in fact could reduce what they do make because of fewer software sales and fewer customers needing their systems de-virused.

    Its like going to a Baptist church and asking if you can give out some literature pushing Buddhism.

    The only way I can see a store letting you do anything like that is if they already sell machines with Linux inst

  • Knoppix and Best Buy (Score:3, Funny)

    by returnoftheyeti ( 678724 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @08:08PM (#12666907)
    I went to Best Buy with 50 Knoppix CDs and rebooted all the display computers.
    • So, you demonstrated that people buying their computers could know their hardware will work on both windows and linux.
      Looks like you are doing some good marketing on the behalf of Best Buy

  • It can work (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Sheepdot ( 211478 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @08:10PM (#12666915) Journal
    Not a bad idea. In fact, you could sell tangible packages of open source software for 5 bucks, and suggest the retail markup be another 5 bucks. Granted, that might seem ridiculous to people like you and I, but whatever works. You'd think there'd be some non-profit out there taking advantage of this right now with big retailers like Walmart and etc. Some people just don't have the time or willpower to download open source, but wouldn't mind spending ten bucks to get it.
  • If the computer stores in your town are franchises of national chains you stand no chance because the local management is unlikely to have the authority to take you up on any offer you make -- you would need to sell much higher up the supply chain. -t

  • Support Markup (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Doc Ruby ( 173196 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @08:34PM (#12667019) Homepage Journal
    Stores, as opposed to mailorder, justify their markup by offering customer service. Choose open-source software based on superior support, including less demand for support, and the store can offer better customer service by plugging customers into that community. Where the OSS is free, it can still be priced, by charging for support offered. Even if that support is just training for new members of the community, like reading documentation, visiting websites, filing bug reports, and upgrading.
  • I'd like to approach them with all of the relevant information in a presentable format...

    That's what all those religious crispies try to tell me as I'm trying to tell them to get off my porch and never come back.

    But...

    Seems to me there was some CD project out there that bundled a lot of general use Open Source. The problem as I see it is that the vast majority of OSS is really of no interest at all to the "average" users. Sys admins and geeks, perhaps, but not "average" users.

    Maybe the first step wou

  • It's FREE, they make no money. About the only thing they can charge is a "convenience fee" for putting software on a CD for you. Big deal, why bother, just download the software off the Net.

    As for spyware et al, ignorance makes companies money. 50% of Symantec's revenue is from their Norton Antivirus product.

    But if you read my posting on this Slashdot thread from yesterday:

    http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/27/17 3 3245&tid=114&tid=113&tid=154&tid=95&tid=218 [slashdot.org]

    Namely the use
  • I'll challenge each of you to do one of the following:

    1) Burn 10 copies of Knoppix or whatever your favorite LiveCD is, have a decent looking label printed for it (and applied), print the various readme's in the various languages, create a cover/index page for it, put it all in a 3 ring (or similar) binder

    2) Burn 10 copies of the full install CDs for the distro(s) of your choice. Again, print the readme's, install docs, etc., label everything nicely, and put it in a binder of some sort

    3) Burn 10 copies
  • Going open source is a very personal decision, and forcing it down people's throat at the level of the retailer might not be a good idea, at least from the point of view of the merchant.

    One possible avenue would be for him to sell something like firefox with norton suite as a security package, and make the limitations of firefox explicit to the customer. Charging a premium will buffer him from having customers think poorly of him when they realize that they can't see the dancing hamster, use their online

  • Something like oooff [oooff.com], combining open office and firefox on a CD in a box.
  • If a computer store sells software, it only sells software that most people want. Sure, today this practice only helps to perpetuate demand for Windows, but with the nice profit margins involved, the dealers don't care. The computer retail business is cut-throat with little room for idealism. Offering support for products for which there is little demand and no profit makes no business sense. It might if the number of systems being sold is large enough, but then we wouldn't be talking about a local dealer.
  • Why not press up a few hundred copies of The OpenCD, screen 'em with a catchy logo...something like "Free Software! Fully functional Microsoft Word clone!"...and put stacks of 'em wherever you see AOL discs. People will find their own support, as they have and always will. Some choose to call Microsoft, some choose to call their nerdy cousin, and many simply cope. Wouldn't it be much easier to cope with the software on The OpenCD?

  • uh oh (Score:3, Funny)

    by SQLz ( 564901 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @10:59PM (#12667649) Homepage Journal
    I live in a small city with about 4 or 5 computer stores, most of whom I know personally.

    Are you THAT GUY who shows up at the local computer shops to annoy the customers and employees but never buys anything?

Slashdot Top Deals

I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning. -- Plato

Close