*BSD News Article 22549


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From: The.BSDisc.subscription@rutgers.edu   (bsdisc-info@grilled.cs.wisc.edu)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.announce,comp.os.386bsd.misc
Subject: Finally -- inexpensive distributions of FreeBSD/NetBSD on CD-ROM
Followup-To: poster
Date: 18 Oct 1993 12:13:50 -0700
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.
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Approved: 386bsd-announce-request@agate.berkeley.edu
Message-ID: <1993Oct15.200551.18540@cs.wisc.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: agate.berkeley.edu





Announcing the BSDisc:	Affordable subscription-based CD-ROM
			distributions of BSD-derivatives


NetBSD, FreeBSD, XFree86, and other free-ware on a disc for under $20.
   ($19.50, to be exact, but with even lower prices to come later!)
	 (Note: non-subscriber rates are somewhat higher.)


Our Mission:
-----------
Our goal is to provide the FreeBSD/NetBSD/386bsd communities with
distributions that are convenient and affordable.  For distribution of
large software packages, cd-rom makes incredible sense.  We want to
make it affordable for you to *always* have the latest/greatest stuff
on cd-rom.

Ok, so it's convenient to be able to install conveniently from cd-rom.
But what's the point of buying "bits on disc" which are going to be
out of date in 4 to 6 months?  Who wants to keep shelling out $40 or
$50 for what's largely the same thing you bought last time around?

Our answer to this problem is **low-priced** distributions.  If it's
cheap enough, why not have the latest stuff?

Cd-rom also provides a convenient access method for things you *don't*
want to waste hard-disk space on.  With a RockRidge-format disc (the
only format we consider worth producing), you can just mount the disc,
and have an extra 600M of useful data on-line.  It looks just like any
other filesystem.


Our Pricing Goals:
-----------------

We hope you can tell from the pricing we've mentioned above that we're
serious about starting things off in an affordable manner.  

But even more importantly, we plan to reduce our prices significantly
as soon as subscriber volume makes it possible.  Our short-term goal
(within one year) is to drop prices to around $15.  Long-term, we
would like to sell the discs for about $10.

And we *will*, as soon as subscriber volume makes it possible.


Sounds great, but what are you doing with my money?
--------------------------------------------------

We want to give something back to the community whose cooperation and
work has give us a great OS.  We plan to devote at least 50% of any
profits to the following worthwhile causes (not necessarily in the
order listed):

	1.  Making future distributions even cheaper.  Need we say more?

	2.  Contributing financially to the FSF and other
	    devlopers/friends of free software.  This may include the
	    Jolitz's, depending on their level of future activity in
	    the 386bsd project.  As hard a time as people may have
	    getting along with Bill & Lynne, they've given us much;
	    it's likely that none of this would have happened without
	    their efforts.  
		[ So why do I feel like I have to justify this?  ;-) ]

	3.  Waiver of subscription fees for significant contributors.
	    This might be tough to do, since it will undoubtedly get
	    "phased in" over a time-period.  So how do you decide who
	    has contributed "the most", and should get precedence?
	    Yow!  Regardless of the difficulty, I think it would
	    certainly be a nice way to say "*thank you*" to the core
	    groups who are making things happen for us.

	4.  Donations of freely available net-hardware, to serve as a
	    "reference" platform.

The above are preliminary ideas, and I'm certainly open to other
suggestions.  The order listed does not necessarily represent the
order in which they will happen, nor is it a guarantee that any or all
of them *will* happen.  

Who knows, I may lose money, in which case none of them will happen!  ;-)


What is this business about a subscription?
------------------------------------------

Keeping prices low is our way of helping you;  Subscribing is your way
of helping us.

By having a base of subscribers we can count on to help pay for the
costs of producing the cd-rom (mastering and production costs), our
risk of losing money each time we cut a new disc is significantly
decreased.  Since we are able to reduce our risk, there's no reason
for us to charge high prices for data which is publicly available.

Simplicity, huh?  Lower risk, lower prices.

If you prefer not to go with a subscription, you can purchase single
issues at a somewhat higher price (about $35, to begin with).


So am I locked into this deal?
-----------------------------

Not at all.  You can cancel at any time, and receive a full refund of
unmailed issues.

In fact, if you're ever dissatisfied with a disc that you've already
received, simply return it within 30 days for a full refund.


How does the subscription work?
------------------------------

We envision releasing a new disc whenever significant new version of
the software is released on the Net.  We anticipate releasing 2-3
issues per year.  Rather than publishing on a rigid schedule, we plan
to release a new issue when there's "enough" changes and new versions
of the software on the net to make it worthwhile.

If you're a subscriber, each new edition will be mailed to you
automatically.


How do I order?
--------------

A couple of logistics items for ordering are still being worked out.
Complete ordering information will be available in about a week.  If
you'd like, send mail to us <bsdisc-info@grilled.cs.wisc.edu> and
we'll email it to you as soon as its out.

We're currently arranging to accept credit cards, since that would be
the easiest way to bill people who don't want to "pre-pay".  If you
prefer, you can also pay by check, though we may require pre-payment
for more than one issue.

As you can tell, the final details are still being worked out; but
they will be available in about a week.


When will you start shipping?
----------------------------

We're currently testing an early version of the disc.  Our group of
beta-testers seem quite happy, so we should be mastering the final
version in about a week.  Since we're going the inexpensive route for
mastering (15-day turnaround) in order to keep prices down, we'll be
shipping the real thing in about 3.5 weeks.

Depending on the feedback we get from our subscribers, we may try to
improve this turnaround time on future editions.  However, it's a
simple trade-off of price vs speed.  Tell us what's important to you,
and we'll try to accomodate the majority of subscribers.


Our hope for the future:
-----------------------

We sincerely hope that in the future, the NetBSD and FreeBSD
developers will merge into a singe group.  This will allow us to fit
loads more freeware onto future issues of the BSDisc.  

Even if this doesn't happen, we can allow more room for other freeware
by producing two different subscription lines (NetBSD and FreeBSD each
on a separater disc).  This would work, but then users would have to
know in advance which flavor they'd like.  

With our current disc, which contains both, you can try them both and
see for yourself which one works best on your hardware.  This option
is also less desirable, since it would lower the number of subscribers
to each version, which means we would not be able to drop our prices
as quickly.

Keep your finger crossed for a merge!

----
BSDisc is a trademark of DiscNet, Inc.
-- 
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Jon Cargille		jcargill@cs.wisc.edu
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