Subject: Re: When will the YDL 2.2 iso be available for FTP download?
From: Eric D. (liriodendron@mac.com)
Date: Sat Mar 16 2002 - 11:55:59 MST
on 15/3/02 20:50, Robert Brandtjen at rob@prometheusmedia.com wrote:
> how come linux distros seel their CD's but don't charge anything for
> downloading them? I mean 20.00USD for a downloadable ISO is cheap, all things
> considered.........
> --
> Robert Brandtjen
I don't know. I'd be more than happy to be paying a /MB d/l rate to download
software and cover hosting costs (provided it were reasonable).
Something like a micro-payment system really needs to spring to life on the
web, even if it's limited to Linux distros/freeware-type licences. You could
buy credit in $5 chunks and web sites could charge a little for whatever
service it is they're offering, e.g. $1 for a 600 MB ISO d/l (or whatever
the hosting and serving costs are for 600 MB). The micropayment system could
itself piggy-back on PayPal (or something like that) if the costs of
maintaining their own secure payment services would be prohibitive to such
an operation. Or, if a per-download system is too cumbersome people could
buy 'credit' for a particular web site.
Software is probably available already which would allow people to set up
such a system with minimal hassle, and charges on transactions could
probably cover the hosting and operating costs of such a system. Obviously
larger cos will never go for this because they make their money off charging
ridiculously over-priced rates for their services but smaller ones could
benefit (& we wouldn't see places like MacFixIt taking publicly provided
content off-line and charging for it).
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