Hi Ian, On Mon, Jun 04, 2007 at 10:41:57PM +0100, Ian Pascoe wrote: > My only worry on this would be the cost of maintaining the stocks of those > USB drives. >
I am sure stock can be managed. If a lot of orders come in then more drives can be ordered, but some would be in "stock" to replace broken ones, or supply to new customers. > Presumeably this would be just a web based and not a telephone based service > Alan? > Correct. I was thinking of a web based system where you can pick from a list of pre-made hard disks or you pick and choose your requirements. Pick "n" repos for "m" architectures, and add in "x" number of ISOs or something. > How about taking it one step back and providing CD / DVD with just the new > apps and dependancies, and updates that the user requires? > > For instance you install the Live CD so have the basic package. You log > onto "Al's virtual store" and look at the descriptions of those apps > available in whichever repo is available to you. > > You select those apps you want to try, and 48 hours later the CD / DVD > arrives with not only those packages you requested, but all the updates for > the base install. > > Next time around, the system remembers what you have already asked for so > sends out the updates for those as well as the new requests. > Sounds like redhat network update :) Problem is that someone could manually add a package (via a usb stick) or remove applications and we would not know about that because they have (potentially) no net connectivity. We then send them a CD full of updates for apps they don't have - or worse, no updates for apps they do have. > Additionally, you could have a monthly or bi-monthly subscription to send > out all the updates that have come out during the previous period. > > If you don't like the package, you remove it from your personal list, and so > won't get any further updates. > > This seems a cheaper and less difficult system to maintain. But it's > unfortunately not that green, and more importantly I haven't got a clue as > to how practical it is either! > It's certainly an option. However I quite like the brute force approach of sending everything. That way they can install new applications (and all dependencies) from the USB disk. They could also put the USB disk on a server and use that as a repo for many machines (think of a school in a remote location that has no or limited net connectivity). If you used the DVD model you proposed, how would you maintain 20, 40, 100+ machines? Would become quite an admin headache when compared with "I send this disk through the post and I get it back, updated within a week" > It also means that the cost to the end user is less as we aren't holding a > returns fee with all the cost and implications that that entails; instead > all they pay for is the cost of the CD / DVD, P&P and a small mark up to > cover running costs. > I am not convinced that money is the primary problem here. Maybe this could be franchied out to local people to reduce freight costs. That way people could post - or even take - their disk to their local agent to get it updated/replaced. > Don't get me wrong, I think it's a really grand idea, and certainly would > enjoy the challenge of something like this! > Thanks. I'm not taking any of this as critisism, it's all the feedback I was after. > To be honest and pre-echo a subsequent mail, it sounds so good that someone > somewhere must already run such a service ....? > Well, it was pointed out on irc yesterday that there are people out there selling repos on a CD/DVD:- http://www.thelinuxstore.org.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1302 15.39GBP + P&P for 6DVDs containing "complete ubuntu 7.04". > Actually, following on from this how does Ubuntu distribute it's Live CD's > worldwide - are they all shipped from the States or are there stocks held > throughout the world for local distribution? > I don't know where they are manufactured but my feisty set came from The Netherlands. Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
