[CentOS] Re: Official CentOS CD/DVD Vendor Program

Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org> wrote:

>My $0.02 ...
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You get what you pay for...

>From: Chris Mauritz <chrism at imntv.com>
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>>What's the point?
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>Awareness, partnerships, retail notoriety and most of all, a starting point
>for now.  You have to start somewhere.
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OK, I'll go along with that.

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>>I checked out linux cd mall.  They charge $12.50 for the CD set (or DVD)
>>and CentOS makes ONE DOLLAR.  Unless you envision tens of thousands
>>of people buying CDs, it hardly seems like a worthwhile endeavor
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>I can envision that volume per year.
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I guess we'll know pretty soon. 

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>>unless you're the CD distributor.
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>The CD distributor has the economies-of-scale in the fact that they already
>have a built infrastructure, web front, relationships, etc... that CentOS can
>tap.  For CentOS to build the same infrastructure, it would cost far more
>per unit sold -- at least at, again, "a starting point for now."
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If this was going to be a 100 unit/day or 1000 unit/day affair, I'd 
agree with you, but it simply isn't.  One or two people with cheap CD 
and DVD duplicators, a paypal merchant account, and some time on their 
hands is probably still overkill for the volume of sales, especially 
when the product is available for free to anyone with a broadband 
connection and a burner.

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>>Why not just find a way to make it easier for people to donate directly 
>>to the project instead of creating a needless middleman who is taking 
>>92% of the money for each CD/DVD set sold?
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>Again, costs involved are relevative here.
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No, not really.  What this says to me is that the CentOS team is doing 
all the labour and some unecessary middleman is skimming the cream off 
the top.  Wouldn't you like to see the CentOS project receive more of a 
share of the take for doing most of the work?  I would.

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>>Hell, for 92% of the profit,
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>No, that's 92% of the _revenue_, and _not_ the "profit" (sometimes I think
>some Linux advocates need a refresher course in basic microeconomics ;-).
>There are more costs involved than just CD duplication here.
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Spare me the condescending remarks.  You knew what I meant.

<snip>

>More seriously now, does everyone have to question everything
>around here?  You don't think the management hasn't thought of these
>things?  Why does everyone seem to believe they know better than the
>management who not only volunteers their time, but puts in the hours
>to be productive, including all the "less fun stuff" in the logistics and
>attention to detail?
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<snip>

Looking back at the volume in the "demonizing" thread, I think I don't 
have nearly the same amount of free time to spend jousting about 
something so trivial in this mailing list with you.  You're obviously a 
very opinionated guy and often full of very sage advice to go along with 
the voluminous opinion.  But I found this reply to be more than a bit 
obnoxious.  The point of my message is that it seems like the CentOS 
guys are doing all the heavy lifting and companies that (at least to me) 
add very little value are taking the lion's share of the revenue for 
these CD/DVD sets.

Best regards,

Chris