Ubuntu - pay what you think its worth

[NickStone]

I have just visited the ubuntu web site because I was thinking of downloading a copy of 13.10 just to see what it was like. When I went to the download page it brought up a form asking what you think Ubuntu is worth meaning how much you would pay for it. However, the only payment option that was available was through paypal and I don't have a paypal account.

But I do think that this is a much better way of making money from Ubuntu than spamming its users with junk whenever they search using the dash.

So a tip for Canonical, keep the pay what you think its worth scheme, stop spamming the users to make money for yourself and offer more payment schemes for us that don't use paypal.

[PaulW2U]

However, the only payment option that was available was through paypal and I don't have a paypal account.

You don't actually need a PayPal account to pay by PayPal.

When you get to the PayPal payment screen, go with the "Pay with a debit or credit card" option. They will prompt you to create an account but you don't have to if you don't want to. I haven't had a PayPal account for sometime now but I frequently send small donations to various projects through PayPal using my credit card. Ubuntu isn't one of those projects by the way as I prefer to send whatever I think appropriate directly to Kubuntu.

[GreyGeek]

I wouldn't touch PayPal with a 15 foot pole. Here are just SOME of the stories we know about. How many haven't reached public scrutiny yet?
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Over-...e-331404.shtml

Here is a website which sells PayPal hacking software, although I believe that downloadable EXE is more about hacking the losers who download it rather than PayPal.
http://thehackingsoftwares.com/hack-paypal/

[SteveRiley]

I wouldn't touch PayPal with a 15 foot pole.

That's a little harsh, perhaps? In the universe of worries that occupy the minds of security people, PayPal matters only because it's a rich target for social engineering attacks that exploit stupid users. Their technology for handling payments and protecting transactions is quite good.

When I went to the download page it brought up a form asking what you think Ubuntu is worth meaning how much you would pay for it.

You're referring to this:



See that option I circled in green? Guess how much Kubuntu receives from that: $0.00. Yep, nothing. We learned at UDS last year that Canonical was actually not distributing any of those funds directly to the flavors.

[GreyGeek]

That's a little harsh, perhaps? In the universe of worries that occupy the minds of security people, PayPal matters only because it's a rich target for social engineering attacks that exploit stupid users. Their technology for handling payments and protecting transactions is quite good.

It's probably as good as PayPal is willing to pay for and implement, but the number of accounts that have been hacked and exploited is far too many..

It doesn't matter if one uses Linux, if the sites they do business with use a less secure server. Somewhere less than 20% of all internet web sites use Windows servers but the majority of all malware is launched from those sites. We've discussed this before. From my POV the best metric to show the security of an OS is the number and size of zombie farms made from them. The largest Linux zombie farm found to date is 700 boxes, which took a team of black hats over six months to accumulate. Several Windows zombie farms are in the millions, and it took only one email and a few days to create them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botnet

[perspectoff]

Interestingly, although one can donate to the Kubuntu council here:

http://www.kubuntu.org/donate

I don't see any contribution page at the Blue Systems website...