Why?

[Borja Marcos borjam@we.lc.ehu.es]

> 
> In article <42bea1$sm6@wolfe.wimsey.com> curt@cynic.portal.CA (Curt Sampson) writes:
> 
> > In article <DE5.95Aug30084445@sws5.CTD.ORNL.GOV>,
> > Dave Sill <de5@sws5.ctd.ornl.GOV> wrote:
> > >
> > >If $350 is a give-away, why not just sell it for $50-100 (to cover
> > >distribution costs)?
> > 
> > How do you know that $50-$100 would cover distribution costs?
> 
> My benchmark is Linux. There are 4-CD Linux distributions that sell
> for $25. Surely Plan 9 source, docs & binaries would fit on a couple
> CD's--forget the printed manuals.

	Linux is a public free system. The companies which "sell"
Linux ONLY have to cover the CD costs. They don't pay any license fees
because the authors of Linux don't want it. But not everyone
can *or wants to* give away a system. AT&T don't want to give it
away, and they have the right to do it. Anyway, think of it 
compared to other sold operating systems. It includes source code
(try to get sources for OS/2, any Windows version...)

	If we compare the price with the price of a computer...
it's a gift.

> I just think Plan 9 would have a bigger impact, and sooner, if it was
> less expensive. Yes, I *could* find $350...if I wanted it that
> badly. Think how many more people would buy it, try it, and hack on it
> if it was $50...

	Well, perhaps it's a cultural problem. I have paid more than
$700 for a bike, more for my caving equipment.... it would be great if
it was cheaper, but it isn't.

	Borja.


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