What Would You Do With Open.org? 239
itwbennett writes "The Linux Fund recently bought the open.org domain at auction for an undisclosed sum. Now begins the challenge of doing something with it — something that generates enough revenue to be self-sustaining."
I know! (Score:5, Funny)
A repository of knock spells? Sure to be a winner!
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I think half the ones Gandalf used in the film are not opening spells - one of them, "naur an edraith amen", is a fire spell that he casts in The Hobbit.
Re:I know! (Score:5, Funny)
CLOSED
Goatse host (Score:5, Funny)
What is more open than goatse?
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I must be mentally scarred too ... i had the exact same connection.
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Step... (Score:3, Informative)
1. Buy domain
2. ??
3. Profit!!
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Exactly!
Why did pepsi get pepsi.com when http://www.geocities.com/9843PepsiCo32 [geocities.com] was good enough?
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Is pepsi.com an awesome website now?
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Re:Step... (Score:4, Informative)
Make money? (Score:3, Insightful)
Porn. no better option.
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Big beards.
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Neckbeard porn?
Open Source but not necessarily free app store. (Score:5, Interesting)
Something like the Mac App Store, but cross platform and accepting only open source submissions. Take a 30% cut of paid downloads.
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Apart from the commission, this sounds like Freshmeat, Tucows, or Sourceforge.
They probably make money off of ad revenue
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Apart from the commission, this sounds like Freshmeat, Tucows, or Sourceforge.
They probably make money off of ad revenue
Uuh...how many 'open source' users do you know that have AdBlock turned off?
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Plus, we already have sourceforge.
Re:Open Source but not necessarily free app store. (Score:5, Interesting)
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And I may be in the minority, but I would pay X amount of money for open source and free apps that were compiled and packaged. (X being reasonably small.)
We have had this for decades. No kidding.
You could hire one of these guys to produce the exact free app that you want, to the exact packaging specs you want, with the exact compile time options you want. You can't lose, and everyone wins. Kind of the opposite of the banking system where heads they win or tails you lose.
http://www.debian.org/consultants [debian.org]
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There used to be a site called sweetcode.org back in 2003 that showcased of interesting open source projects. It ran for a bit and then died; the most recent version is archived here [archive.org]. These days it's a squatter site, worse luck.
Even now, eight years later, there's some interesting stuff there --- ReVirt, a logging virtual machine that captures the state of the system over time, so if there's an intrusion you can wind back the clock and see how it happened? convertfs, which can convert one filesystem to an
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Do you really need to wade through garbage at sourceforge? If you want the "elite" apps, then just sort them by popularity/ranking. That's how they would be picked for an "elite" list anyway.
I will grant that sourceforge's design is absolutely horrible for the masses. However, that necessitates a better design, not an entirely new website.
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Maybe I'm not the only one, but while sourceforge/freshmeant/whatever is a good place to find good open source apps, you also have to wade through a pile of garbage to get to them. Maybe open.org could be a place where only the elite apps get shown off, to get across to people that open source software really is amazing, if you ignore all the terrible or half done projects. Sure it's not very "open" but would go a long way to getting the average Joe to using open source software.
So, something like fossfor.us [fossfor.us] then?
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And meanwhile, a bunch of FOSS pedants will debate whether "open.org" is truly "open," with half concluding that it's fine, and the other half declaring holy war on open.org because it's not a 100% completely free and open. And then we could fully expect GPLv4 to require that all distribution services be ideologically pure in letter and spirit.
Either that, or it'll be started in a rush of enthusiasm, and then the maintainers will realize "Gee, this writing and updating stuff is boring and hard. Let's just
Re:Open Source but not necessarily free app store. (Score:5, Interesting)
Allow people to signup (with valid paypal account) and they go into a support pool for open source projects. People who answer questions correctly (or get most points) get most pay while fewer points get a smaller percentage of pay for that question.
People who wish to pay for support can sign up for an unlimited number of questions or pay per question asked. The amount would be based on each project and the popularity and number of downloads of said project (or something like that). Percentage of pay could also go to maintainers of project.
open source support (Score:3)
Considering the route Canonical is going, you could easily work out an agreement with them more than likely (as long as they got THEIR cut) and e
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Better. Supply open source support for sourceforge/open source projects.
Probably a hell of a lot simpler to contact one of these 826 people and arrange terms.
http://www.debian.org/consultants [debian.org]
Now something new to the ecosystem, would be a talent agency that handled all aspects of these relationships for a very modest fee. Maybe that already exists, very quietly.
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Something like the Mac App Store, but cross platform and accepting only open source submissions.
Then that's absolutely nothing like the Mac App Store.
They mean, it would be shiny.
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Take a 30% cut of paid downloads.
That would be a better deal than Ubuntu is offering Banshee
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/canonical-banshee-agree-to-disagree/8345 [zdnet.com]
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If it was any other organisation (Score:2)
Not so useless (Score:2)
derp (Score:5, Insightful)
Shouldnt they have a clue what they will do with the domain before blowing money into the wind?
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you must be new around here.......
and to auctions in general......
self-sustaining ? (Score:2, Insightful)
Like capable of generating $30 per month ? Seems hard.
Not just software (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not just software (Score:4, Interesting)
I second this idea, I would like to see it become a useful resource for both users and developers/artists. There could be a directory and a customized search engine pointing to good resources about open source and creative commons materials.
For developers it could help find libraries with selected license (BSD and MIT like licenses in addition to GPL like), links to free tutorials, books, documentation and interesting projects to collaborate by language, information about different licenses. Also a message board or news section for finding collaborators for and announcing new projects might be useful.
Wiki works too for a dictionary claryifying some terms about open source, but I think it should just be a part of the site. I see a collectively edited Dmoz or Yahoo style link directory equally useful. For inspiration on making new users for open source software: http://www.opensourcemac.org/ [opensourcemac.org]
On the software side, there is already Github, Sourceforge and many more, but open.org could provide some visual statistics about most used open source software, most active projects, most liked projects the information being collected from different sites and repository hosts. Github and ohloh.net do a good work of being useful for both developers and users. In my opinion Sourceforge has gone much worse in this respect in the last two versions, unvisionarily mixing the two sides and not catering to either.
As for the self-sustaining revenue: On the web there's generally four ways to make money:
Donations, ads, selling some useful items or services and porn.
To hell with revenue (Score:5, Interesting)
Start something that promotes open software, open ideas, and open standards. Take on Microsoft and other companies head on. Show people what quality software and open standards do for everyone.
That's what I'd do.
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Don't forget also open source advocacy and marketing materials.
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Show people what quality software and open standards do for everyone.
That's what I'd do.
Who ensures quality? Part of the supposed value in iTunes and Androids marketplace is that the applications are submitted, reviewed, and only added if they are up to snuff. Even with something like Canonicals Ubuntu repositories there is still a bit of junk in there that is easy to install, but hard to make it work and do what it was supposed to do. Theres no easy feedback. A nag screen isn't quite right, but if I remove a package I should be able to say "this was crap" or "didnt meet my needs" and give som
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The problem is that their guidelines are vague and broad.
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100909/apple-bye-bye-fart-apps/ [allthingsd.com]
As part of their guidelines, they may reject if they feel that the market is saturated with your type of app, or if your app doesn't provide enough entertainment or utility.
And directly addressing the quality aspect: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30338/NewlyRevealed_App_Store_Guidelines_Discourage_Amateur_Hour.php [gamasutra.com]
With such a wide array of content available on the App Store, Apple is cautious of letting the quality apps become drowned out by poorly-made products. "If your App looks like it was cobbled together in a few days, or you're trying to get your first practice App into the store to impress your friends, please brace yourself for rejection. We have lots of serious developers who don't want their quality Apps to be surrounded by amateur hour."
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Start something that promotes open software, open ideas, and open standards. Take on Microsoft and other companies head on. Show people what quality software and open standards do for everyone.
That's what I'd do.
Then maybe actually donate enough money so that it doesn't have to clamber for revenue? It's easy to write Slashdot comments espousing openness while things suffer to due to lack of revenue in the real world.
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I'm not sure how this idea of free (as in beer) got attached to free (as in speech), but Open Source wasn't envisaged as a necessarily gratis environment like freeware. In fact, the genesis of OSS was the idea that anyone paying for software should receive the source code along with it.
There's nothing wrong with turning a profit on OSS, and the ecosystem as a whole would probably benefit from something akin to the App Store, where companies and individuals can market their applications. Keep 10% of the pr
New business model (Score:2)
1) Buy domain ...
2) Ask Slashdot
3)
4) Profit?
Maybe they can resell it to someone that actually has a use for it for more than they paid for it? Quids in that way ..
Essentially the Linux Fund are just domain squatters.
Re:New business model (Score:5, Informative)
snapshot index from wayback machine [archive.org], from a few years ago [archive.org], the shutting down notification page [archive.org].
So, why not the Open Public Education Network? It's self-referential, same as Linux Is Not Unix, or Gnu's Not Unux.
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You fool! By posting those links you've slashdotted history! Who knows what alterations to the time line this will cause? Quick, somebody call a Voyager.
Surely you jest - If we're going to screw with time itself, let's do it properly. Where's a TARDIS when you really need one?
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linux and windows app store (Score:3, Interesting)
It's obvious (Score:4, Funny)
I suffer from a similar quandary (Score:5, Interesting)
I own neutrality.org. If any readers would be interested in assisting me in fighting the good fight, please drop me a note at ideas@neutrality.org. My intent is to use this to promote network neutrality, and not to make a quick buck.
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Please Define "network neutrality" in such a way that I will agree with you. ;)
My definition would be
Network Neutrality: Standardized methods of routing and packet prioritization that doesn't favor or disfavor based upon origin or destination, nor giving favor or disfavor for packets to gain an advantage for competing services.
It is simple, concise and accurate.
That and Comcast sucks donkey balls. IF I could get DSL to my house, because even though it would be "slower" it would be faster than my Comcast. Or
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I didn't realize you could set a "real" domain name to 127.0.0.1
Very cute.
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I didn't realize you could set a "real" domain name to 127.0.0.1
Very cute.
Try http://www.neutrality.org:8080/ [neutrality.org] - one of the "alternate ports" (along with 8000). Obviously not set up too well, since it requires the www prefix. Traceroute says it's a dsl line with ameritech (SBC).
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A new marketing campaign for open source (Score:5, Interesting)
I think there needs to be a fresh new marketing campaign that reintroduces the concept of open source software to people (including the geeks) because it seems that a lot of the efforts have fizzled out or become misunderstood by the latest generation.
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Agreed 100%. Marketing is the key. You can have the best product in the world, but it will fail if no one knows about it.
But, whatever they do, it needs to be user friendly. I remember talking with a friend of mine a few years ago about the truly awful documentation in some Linux programs. His response was that there is so much development going on that the programmers don't often stop and write clear manuals. Well, that's not just an annoyance; it's a problem, a damn big one, and I don't think it's go
Create a brand (Score:5, Interesting)
Part of the "problem" with open source is that only us geek types give a damn about it. Average joe doesn't care about how "open" what he's buying is, which is why people continue to buy closed systems without a second thought.
Open.org could be the face of open platforms. Get a nice logo and some sort of catchy slogan "Approved by Open.org - your software, how you want it" or something. So when Microsoft releases a new "open" standard that isn't actually that open, open.org could be the ones fighting to make it as open as possible, supporting a truly open alternative, keeping things that are supposed to be open, but aren't, in check (I'm looking at you, Oracle) and generally educating the masses on why being open is "cool" and why they should care, as well as encouraging companies to open up their products more.
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Today's Open Source programmers seem to be really smart at marketing, making nice sites and logos and selling the idea. I wrote, and still write, GPL'd software but never really tried to hard to market it having just a CVS database and a page on source forge. All info was in a README.
Honestly I'm very impressed. Some of the projects look very professional. You go guys, you're making it happen.
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Brand & Tee Shirts (Score:2)
Also sell Tee shirts, get cool stuff and tell your friends.
Do not let your friends Drive while intoxicated on non-open software.
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That'd be cool, except that slogans are annoying. Especially bad slogans. They just sound hokey. From Where do you want to go today? to the Burger King or McDonald's or whatever I like it my way things ... if anything, they make me want to laugh. A trustworthy brand is pretty cool, helpful, and nice to be able to rely on; slogans are something I've never figured out the point of. :)
Social Network + Freshmeat (Score:2)
copyleft repository (Score:5, Interesting)
There are so many OSS/FOSS repositories out there. I'd love to see them help foster the copyleft movement and get a directory of creative commons art, audio, video, and ui elements. It would both benefit Linux itself, and attract high traffic for people looking for stock photos etc. thus, ad revenue.
Self-sustaining? (Score:2)
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What does "self-sustaining" mean? Obviously, there is the cost of hosting the site and maintaining the domain registration, but that isn't a lot of money. Is $20/month on the conservative side really that hard to get? Recouping the cost of purchasing the website is a different issue, but that money has already been spent.
In this context "self-sustaining" means able to generate enough income to pay off the huge bank loan involved in buying the domain with enough left over to pay for a few 100K a year salaries for management staff who don't work more than an hour a week. It's a dot-com bubble concept.
Solutions Database (Score:5, Interesting)
For individuals or for business, the site could offer alternatives and/or solutions to common problems. It can also promote open standards for others to follow.
e.g. replacement Office suite = Libre Office, ProTools = Audacity, SAP ERP = OpenTaps, OpenBravo, etc.
You can setup case studies to advocate the use of open source software and solutions.
This wouldn't just apply to software. You can also throw in hardware designs too (I'm thinking Arduino stuff).
A source of income could be companies that advertise on the site, offering their expertise in setting up open source business systems.
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ProTools = Audacity
No.
I've used Audacity. It's great for quick and dirty audio editing and the price is right. It's not a replacement for ProTools.
That said, the number of people who actually need the features in ProTools that Audacity doesn't have is really miniscule. Maybe that's what you were getting at.
App store! (Score:2)
...Said somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but also seriously: turn it into a one-stop-shop for all things FSF/Open source, etc., that users can just get, a la the Android and Apple app stores. Such an app store would include things like Blender, GCC, LibreOffice, Linux itself (multiple flavors), all the way down to code files.
The store could be configured so that it would be easy to donate to the projects, even if you don't actually download the program, with them taking a small cut (a la the Apple app store) to pr
Make it an opensource 'App Store', or sell it (Score:2)
I'd turn it into an opensource 'App Store' that catalogs opensource software, provides downloads for all platforms, source and documentation, as well as interactive help wikis or other sorts of user-generated docs and troubleshooting help. Add a search engine or mechanism that lets folks put in the name of closed-source software they wish to substitute and have it come up with a list of well-supported opensource alternatives.
Or, sell it to American Express for a healthy profit and use the proceeds to fund
a wikipedia of all things Linux/FOSS (Score:2)
Open Philosophy (Score:3, Interesting)
Construct the Open Manifesto.
Open government, open code -- open philosophy.
Open honesty between all humans. Truth: you are all bags of carbon and mostly water.
Reality: We need to become completely open if we hope to achieve a successful deep space program with multigenerational stability, and save our species from extinction, which will happen unless we all work together towards a multigenerational goal of continuing the species.
Governments are corrupt. Politicians lie to get votes, even good ones. That can't be allowed anywhere for the open philosophy to prevail.
We must hunt down and expose all those who wish to hide secrets. Off with their heads! (I mean: revoke their parking pass for a week).
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Yes, what mfh said. Well, don't call it a 'manifesto', but showcase all the great things going on that benefit from openness. And then use that to sell open source software.
You want to associate open source with other open successes. And honor and praise the victories as they happen.
But, really, I don't know what open.org sold for, but putting one guy on it for one day a week isn't going to be worth that investment. Consider at least a staff of three full-timers. I suppose this means advertising, but
Employment Agency (Score:4, Interesting)
A single site to register open source software developers. It would work like a temp agency -- you pay the developer $30/hour, the hiring company pays you $45/hour. There may be something else out there but it would be nice to have a central community for hiring experts on Plone, Python, Drupal, Graphic Design, MySQL, Postgres, etc. Something that showcases their resumes, portfolio, photos of their mom's basement, etc.
sell merchandise (Score:2)
Wiki (Score:2)
advocacy... and blame. (Score:4, Interesting)
A list of all the companies that support open standards and are heros of freedom and democracy.
and a list of all the closed and abusive standards and the companies that force them upon society, exposing them as the terrorists and haters of humanity they are.
Openstandards database (Score:3)
Make a database on it containing all open standards, like pdf, odf, HTML, etc. But not OOXML. I bet even MS will not ask to have it on there.
What would I do? (Score:2)
There is an easy answer to that one. I'd sell it to whoever is willing to pay the most, it really doesn't have any other value.
The Linux Fund, whoever they are, seem to be pushing some angle to try and extract cash out of words like 'Linux' and 'Open'. I don't see them being trustworthy somehow.
Promotion and information (Score:3)
Use it to market the value of open source. Perhaps feature a whole section with tips on switching and cover the basic challenges a user might face. A resource where new users aren't going to be judged for their ignorance about Linux.
A domain like this shouldn't be wasted catering to a community already sold on the concept.
Standards not Source (Score:2)
Pointers to all things Open (Score:5, Interesting)
Make a site that is a great resource to all things Open. Not just software or hardware, but open culture, architecture, design, access, etc. Be educational yet very handy so as to better inform and enthuse users as to what communities and resources are out there and how they can participate, either globally or locally. Be a hub site to help join the dots and frame how fantastic the idea of Open is.
Related question? (Score:2)
What Would You Do With Open.org? (Score:2)
I would put it in a blendtec with some ice, a banana and some yogurt and make a smoothie.
OPEN (Score:2)
OMG Ponies Everywhere Now!
What would you do... (Score:2)
Porn. Naturally.
What To Do With Open.org (Score:3, Interesting)
Before you read what I would do, I want to state that openness, to me, does not just mean open source. Openness is a moral value. Openness in its best form is absolute honesty, with your users and your administrators, with your friends and family. Openness in its worst form is Wikileaks (which I don't think is a bad thing), or in another word, controversial. When software is open, it is open to change, it is open to criticism, it is open to becoming better than it is, and it is open to others' differences. When a person is open, that person has the same qualities.
The open source community is intelligent and idealistic. It is also fragmented and childish. A central domain like Open.org is the perfect place to bring people together in such a way as to establish openness as a strong moral value with a strong cultural backing. If I were to do something with Open.org, and I were a large organization that could pull this off, here's what I would do:
I just hope that this comment isn't lost under 200 other comments on Slashdot. I am a web developer and I would be willing to help make this a reality.
Which is it? (Score:3)
So was it purchased at a public auction or for an undisclosed amount? Unless you have some weird auctions in Oregon it would be difficult not to disclose the amount.
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difficult to do without knowing the purchase price, which I assume is what they want to recoup. I can't imagine owning a .org domain is that expensive.
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>> something that generates enough revenue to be self-sustaining
That sounds an awful lot like a business.
If the goal is to be "self sustaining" then it's a hobby or at most a nonprofit organization. A business must at least intend to return a profit to the investors/owners.
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I'd bet that they are going to use it to host a website of some kind.
Lets say you convinced half of the 826 registered Debian Linux consultants to get a vanity email address at that domain name for $10/yr. Multiplied by all the other open source consultants in the world equals a handy bit of cash per year...