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What Would You Do With Open.org?
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."
A repository of knock spells? Sure to be a winner!
What is more open than goatse?
en tee
1. Buy domain
2. ??
3. Profit!!
>> something that generates enough revenue to be self-sustaining
That sounds an awful lot like a business.
Porn. no better option.
Something like the Mac App Store, but cross platform and accepting only open source submissions. Take a 30% cut of paid downloads.
If money generation and "open" was to be combined, I'd say P0rn. But in this case, it is a useless contribution from the peanut gallery...
!
Shouldnt they have a clue what they will do with the domain before blowing money into the wind?
something that generates enough revenue to be self-sustaining
Like capable of generating $30 per month ? Seems hard.
So they bid possibly a reasonable amount of money on a domain name without actually having a use for it?
Of course, maybe they got it for a trivial amount, but if not it just looks like they're being frivolous with their funds, not someone I'd be keen on donating to.
Self sustaining a .org domain is really $10 US a year and $50 a year for hosting - so basically throw some meaningful content and a bunch of adsense in there.
It would be great if open.org was a place to find not just software but other types of open source content and resources that could be used creatively with open software. I'm thinking of sites like the Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org), freesound.org, and the like.
Twenda Learning: Educational Apps that Engage.
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.
This is a sig. Deal with it.
The important thing is that money generation and nonprofit don't go hand-in-hand. I would be delighted to hear that it helped the linux foundation enough to be worth the cost. "self sustaining" shouldn't have to be part of that.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
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.
The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
A free, open source "app store", of course! A database with open source programs (similar to the Ubuntu Software Centre), but including windows programs. With systems to search for, rate and review open source applications, with screen shots, installation instructions and everything. I cannot think of anything more useful than that. This is easily self-sustaining if they did not spend more than $1000 on the domain. If they did, the best option is to sell it and buy a cheaper domain name.
I would immediately counter by selling close.org.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
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.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
Dedicate it to open research for all sorts of fields. Share the knowledge, share understanding of that knowledge, and make the lives of everyone better.
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.
Porn.
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.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
Isn't that what it is all about? Trying to find a community that is dedicated to open source projects and finding out about the projects they are working on? Make it easy to get on their CSV and contribute.
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.
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.
I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person that I'm preaching to.
Before I bought it.
Please don't make it some kind of social networking site for everything "open source".
doesn't that sound a lot like sourceforge? with the bonus that sourceforge has aslo the code, not only sw and instructions and linux/win apps...
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.
I'd bet that they are going to use it to host a website of some kind.
this was another dotcom concept that a website name had a high tangible value - the reality is you actually 'make' that value / brand through advertising and marketing spend, search engine ranking etc etc etc - google, yahoo and bing are not called "websearch.com" and they could all afford to buy it over but there you go....
nuff said
Just to piss off RMS :)
I would also suggest a solid FAQ section on Why and How to open source, etc.
TFA does well by pointing out that everything open should be discussed -- open hardware, open business practices, etc. It also suggests selling @open.org email addresses for lifetime members, etc.
...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 provide the exposure.
The key thing, in my mind, is that there are just so many awesome programs out there, and it's hard to keep track of them all; one simple site, structured well, would go, in my mind, so far to raising the visibility of many projects that are just as good, if not better, than commercial apps, but don't have any easy way to get their software in front of users.
Videos of RMS dancing with mascots and eating stuff from his foot.
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 OSS development.
I am surprised Apple didn't buy it and then destroy it forever, followed by an attempt to get the word removed from the English dictionary. I hear employees at Apple have to say the door is ajar
with easy to read descriptions, synopsis, details & instructions and links to the various author's website & repositories...
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
We need more pink
Google does not approve.
---
I would register closed.org then add a single cross link on each domain.
open - closed - open - closed - ope..
I always play that game with the unused ash tray in the dash of my car.
Or they could sell porn, of course.
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).
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
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 $45/hour. There may be something else out there but it would be nice to have a central community for hiring experts on Plone, Python, Drupal, Graphic Design, MySQL, Postgres, etc. Something that showcases their resumes, portfolio, photos of their mom's basement, etc.
Email me. I will send you my Adsense code that you can fill it with for me. Kthxbye.
Bryan
I would put links to the most important pages of the open source world. Drivers, Kernel, Distros, News(Like slashdot, kernelnewbies, phoronix), etc..
I would add content that teaches the importance of open source for the real world and how it can benefit the human being as a whole.
I would promote in some way the union between similar projects so to not waste time between same ideas and instead work on similar ones so the human time spend on programming them can be optimized to have a better outcome of the project.
I would mention reunions and scheduled seminars about open source groups anywhere in the world and maybe have it categorized by country.
I would have an statistic page that shows the usage of individual open source projects and how many users they have, how fast they have grown, etc.. with REAL information not false like most Micro$oft "fan sites"
Maybe other ideas that come to mind later.
This are my thoughts.
Luis Alvarado, Venezuela
Two chicks at the same time, man.
Shirts, hats, bumper stickers, etc, etc, etc....as well as a good central place to download all of the major F/OSS operating systems.
...sorry, could not resist.
A wiki about open source software that can be easily searched. I was looking for a GUI networking utility and there isn't a well organized list of F/OSS anywhere. A place where articles on old software aren't deleted!
Sig: I stole this sig.
Except those sites are ugly and intimidating compared to the iTunes interface.
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.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Sell it to American Express for a larger undisclosed sum.
I would sell it to Microsoft or Apple.
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.
-- Cheers!
The Parent has the right idea.
Also sell Tee shirts, get cool stuff and tell your friends.
Do not let your friends Drive while intoxicated on non-open software.
I wouldn't trust the definition of "open" to anyone less.
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.
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.
I'd fuck it.
Make open.org the face of a new international standards body that vets completely open standards - i.e. ones that are not patent encumbered and can be implemented for any purpose royalty free. It can work in a similar way to ISO, requiring prior approval of the standards by some other body, and just putting a stamp on them saying 'this is an open standard'. It should campaign for recognition by governments, so that any spec that it publishes has a one year draft period, and any patents that are not disclosed during that period can not be enforced against implementors of the spec.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
How about Official Penis Enlargement Network? You could rate and rank devices and have support groups and such. Probably could make some money just by plugging it on slashdot.
"I don't have to think. I only have to do it. The results are always perfect, but that's old news." - Meat Puppets
Additionally, you could even charge people a nominal yearly fee for access as what you would be creating is an online knowledge base for support and trouble shooting of just about every open source project in the world. This would be WORTH a monthly/yearly fee and most companies would gladly pay a small 'per license fee' or one lump sum fee just for the support.
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 eventually expand into phone support allowing those with most accurate records to be called via a voip number which would be routed through a web interface (thus allowing logging of times and handling of availability).
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
What is the enough revenue to be self-sustaining in your opinion . . ?
Ever since the invention of internet porn, there has only been one answer to that question!
Ok, so the real question is what should the Linux Fund do with the domain. Other than advertising, I'm not sure how you generate revenue from a site dedicated to making unencumbered software available for free download, but that's probably what they should do with the domain.
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.
MilkMiruku
Uh, no... they spent a reasonable amount of money to prevent someone else from misusing the domain!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
How much would you pay for a username@open.org email address? I wanna be first in line to register my username "wide"!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
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...
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
porn with tux and all the other pets...
(and real girlds maybe)
Who wouldn't want to own a piece of this?
wide.open.org
legs.open.org
yes.we.are.open.org
On a more serious note, how about trying to make the ultimate Open Source portal...expert articles, software reviews and so on. Make a set of Yum/Apt repositories for pure open-source software and also mirrors of various high-profile git/svn repos.
Run a moderated Wiki for open-source topics, give front-page exposure to small, interesting open-source projects, get some execs from big, OSS-friendly companies to write some testimonials to help with advocacy. Host some OSS-related aggregated RSS feeds. So many things that could be done.
How about offering a paid-for email redirection service (yourname@open.org) with any profits over-and-above the upkeep of the site going to the EFF or similar. Make it easy to donate, maybe look out for some free hosting from somewhere.
Sell tasteful, targeted advertising rather than huge glowy flash banners and less-than-useless adwords crap.
Then, when the site has mahoosive PageRank and millions of hits a month, we move from OSS to Viagra and we'll make...billions!
I would like to see a portal to connect people who need/can provide support for open systems. My boss has a saying, and I agree, free isn't free. Small stressed IT shops would love to use open systems but we do little more than manage troves of hardware and support providers. Microsoft has awesome documentation and support channels for their server and enterprise products. We need "certified" support connections for open source offerings. We need access to reasonably priced local support contractors.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
What Would You Do With Open.org?
I would put it in a blendtec with some ice, a banana and some yogurt and make a smoothie.
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
I want a site where I know everything on it, I can take, attribute and use. I want to know that everything I submit is free for commercial use or any other endeavor. I want a site that does a better job than flickr at knowing about FREE as in freedom content.
Open should push a share-alike philosophy and should push linux.
1. Searchable content database that integrates into many other open content databse
2. Strict adherance to content that is free for derivative use.
3. Set up direct links to methods for people to volunteer on opensource projects like open hatch
4. Provide help tricking kids into submitting their cool art to various projects
Welcome to open.org. This is open.org. Welcome! This is open.org, welcome to open.org! You can do anything at open.org, anything at all! The only limit is yourself! Welcome to open.org! Welcome to open.org. Welcome to open.org. This is open.org.
OMG Ponies Everywhere Now!
Porn. Naturally.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
If I had my way, Open.org would be a repository indexing, signing, and a mirror service. It would piggyback on akamai for mirrors geographically close to people.
What advantage would this have? A decent system of blahblah.open.org for repos pertaining to major distributions, and blahblah.open.org/whatever for minor projects. All packages on this site would not just be validated upon upload, but sites and mirrors would be randomly checked just to catch tampering.
It also would offer a mechanism for installing and updating apps that works regardless of OS. The client would grab a list of versions via a SSL based query, the server would reply what needs upgraded/updated, and the client would fetch, check the signature and upgrade those packages.
If done right in a secure manner, almost any OS can take advantage of the system.
How will this make revenue? A platform generic app store. Want open.org to handle purchasing distribution, and updating of commercial apps? We take a commission (percentage will depend), and in return, the commercial application developer doesn't have to worry about distribution, updates, charging customers. The app developer just needs to make sure their code is signed and has a contract on file stipulating that they have standards for security for their code signing server (HSM, offline box, etc.)
There's one huge flaw with most open source software - things like Gimp, Ubuntu, etc. It's not customization and it's not security - it's ease of use.
I'd run studies geared towards people who use computers casually - everything from the 16 year old Facebook addict to the 75 year old recipes.com addict. I'd have them try things like Ubuntu out, give them a basic rundown, and have them try it for an exclusive period (like, say, 30 days) - and then pay them for the results.
We need hard data on why the casual users don't like it.
Engineers can build wonderfully functioning tools, but they're not often pretty.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
They could be open about how much they paid for the domain...
Well, they may start to add the PmWiki captcha and moderation tools, to avoid that any bot post some spam. That would be a good start!
Sell advertising space to Microsoft.
How about a place to distribute payments to open projects... I might not suddenly be overwhelmed enough to make a significant donation to something I was using, but if I had had a few dollars in some account on open.org, I might be tempted on a whim to throw 50cents at something I was finding useful tonight.... think there might be a few hundred others out there who might be tempted to do the same, all of which are not going to go to the effort of donating 50 cents, but are otherwise going to do nothing at all.
This might actually work if it was done for the Android platform, if it was marketed correctly.
Two chicks at the same time man.
That's about as open as you can get.
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.
I sometimes ask revealing, often ignorant-seeming questions. Maybe they're harder to answer than you think.
Along a similar line, a kind of central directory and/or search engine for open-source project sites and info. A starting point.
If they want revenue, stick a few non-intrusive ads on the side-bar.
Table-ized A.I.
today you have freshmeat, sourceforge, etc for developers and many times you've got a tarball to get and compile but little in the way of descriptions of what it's details are, tricks/techniques etc. So how about an Openpedia which would include screenshots, descriptions of what it does and user comments for tips/tricks along with links to packages with the requirement of atleast RPM and DEB packages or it can't be listed( no tarballs ).
And lots of search capabilities so you can find a category of projects to pick from.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
"Me: 1) Degree in Biotechnology and Computer Science. (Did your troll factory offer dual majors, or just the standard "how to be an obnoxious twat on the internet" syllabus?)" - by Americano (920576) on Friday February 18, @02:27PM (#35247076)
First of all, Kevin B. Pease = AMERICANO from Merrimack New Hampshire - kbpease@hotmail.com - YOU DID NOT GET A DOUBLE MAJOR!
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kbpease
PERTINENT EXCERPT:
Kevin Pease's Education
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
B.S., Biotechnology
1993 Ã" 1998
Minor: Computer Science
---
LMAO - it took you 6 YEARS to get a CSC MINOR? Rotflmao... and, worse still?? YOU LIED ABOUT IT HERE, trying to pass it off as a DOUBLE-MAJOR??? LMAO! There's QUITE THE DIFFERENCE in courses/credit hours between the 2, you lying scumbag!
"Me: 1) Degree in Biotechnology and Computer Science. (Did your troll factory offer dual majors, or just the standard "how to be an obnoxious twat on the internet" syllabus?)" - by Americano (920576) on Friday February 18, @02:27PM (#35247076)
First of all, Kevin B. Pease = AMERICANO from Merrimack New Hampshire - kbpease@hotmail.com - YOU DID NOT GET A DOUBLE MAJOR!
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kbpease
PERTINENT EXCERPT:
Kevin Pease's Education
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
B.S., Biotechnology
1993 Ã" 1998
Minor: Computer Science
---
LMAO - it took you 6 YEARS to get a CSC MINOR? Rotflmao... and, worse still?? YOU LIED ABOUT IT HERE, trying to pass it off as a DOUBLE-MAJOR??? LMAO! There's QUITE THE DIFFERENCE in courses/credit hours between the 2, you lying scumbag!
"Me: 1) Degree in Biotechnology and Computer Science. (Did your troll factory offer dual majors, or just the standard "how to be an obnoxious twat on the internet" syllabus?)" - by Americano (920576) on Friday February 18, @02:27PM (#35247076)
First of all, Kevin B. Pease = AMERICANO from Merrimack New Hampshire - kbpease@hotmail.com - YOU DID NOT GET A DOUBLE MAJOR!
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kbpease
PERTINENT EXCERPT:
Kevin Pease's Education
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
B.S., Biotechnology
1993 Ã" 1998
Minor: Computer Science
---
LMAO - it took you 6 YEARS to get a CSC MINOR? Rotflmao... and, worse still?? YOU LIED ABOUT IT HERE, trying to pass it off as a DOUBLE-MAJOR??? LMAO! There's QUITE THE DIFFERENCE in courses/credit hours between the 2, you lying scumbag!
Bit-torrent. Amateur porn. I heard that there are only 1 or 2 mainstream porn movies per month, instead of 18 - 20. This is based on memory, sorry I do not have a link.
I don't feel like revealing the demographic of the people that still purchase porn.
Click [here] to purchase that info.
What would I do with "open.org"? Why, buy "closed.com" and have a matched set!
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.