If you could 'pay' for an OS for your Z ... How much would you pay?

Just a thought from another thread ... just how much would you pay for a OS running on your Z? Shoot ....

I would be willing to sacrifice nice vista graphics and ...some.. other features for a wickedly fast rom responce.....

just me 2 cents

Definitely. I have no eye candy anyway I also want cutting-edge (latest kernel, etc.) and low memory usage. Other stuff (besides GCC/headers) is definitely secondary.

I also wouldn't pay a cent, partly because I'm cheap, but mostly because I prefer to support stuff I like by actually supporting it (recommending it to others, helping the newbies, compiling stuff, doing dev work for it, etc.).

EDIT: These polls are fun. There should be more of them!

I've contributed $$ to linux projects sporadically-other people here have done much more. I find what I want in an OS is a combination of the tweaking factor and the working factor--in good balance. Tweaking is fun, but when it becomes a chore just to perform some simple task, a different environment is called for, I think (unless one maybe is developing or testing the unstable os). A stable system is marvelous, but if it isn't capable of learning new tricks, it gets dull.

as to paying for my OS--well, that seems to get into other issues. Suffice it to say that I think the GPL was a very, very, wise thing to have begun.

Strangely I just entered my vote ... ...

< $50 seems to be the winner here. ... I'm willing to fork out up to $129 ... ok, maybe even $150 if it really rocks. But I'm also expecting free one-click patches for at least a year, including upgrades!

I guess we all contribute in different ways. Monetizing one's support for a platform can sometimes prove to be helpful in paying off the developer's bills. ... I wonder if I reflect the sentiments of most folks who are just part-time hobbist and would need a working system. Sometimes I am amazed at the developers here ... I wonder where they find the time to do all these stuffs and still pay the bills ...

Not trying to flatter MS ... but sometimes I really tip my hat to them for being able to be so rich just selling operating system software. ok, their bulk of revenue used to come from Office sales for the golden days, but OS sales was obscene by any standard. Guess there is a reason why they insist on backward compat; it pays to somewhat maintain loyalty or lock-down with your customers.

Anyhow, enough ranting ... vote on!

Depends a lot on what I get for the money.

If I get something as easy to install, as easy to expand, as complete like MacOS X I would pay a lot.
If I get service, upgrades, developer kit, bug fixes within definitive time etc. I would also pay.
On the other hand: I already have an OS for my Z: the SharpROM... It was free. So, why should I pay anything?

$100 ~ 129 --> if it works good and it is a good Webbrowsing tool... I would be really happy

Maybe because the SL6000 that I am going to get isnt the most active one of the Zaurus devices.

I contribute to any projects that are regulary producing updates and working on improving the project. UBUNTU, and Cacko are two such OS projects that get My dosh when new versions come out.

Aye, upgrades and bug fixes is truly important.



You are *still* getting a SL6000? Why not one of the clampshell?



Again, that is so true. paying for dead-end projects feel like dumping into a blackhole. Sometimes I wonder if the $$ even get to the developer ...

But it becomes a catch 22 situation eh? dead-end projects probably need funding to get started. Funding comes only when users see a project as viable. Ah well ... of course this dead-lock can be broken if 1) the developer is using his own product and hence would continue to develop and improve or 2) the app is so compelling, users pay/donate anyway, spurring further development.

- Stability is my main concern. My wife's Treo crashes many times each day; since they went to NAND memory she doesn't usually lose data any more, but it's frustrating to her. I'd have driven a screwdriver through that thing months ago and burned it in effigy. Above all else I want my PDA to just work. That's why I've never migrated from Cacko ... it does more than the stock ROM and it just works, day in and day out. One time I had a Sokoban level active for five months until I solved it, using it normally for that entire time, and Hiro never crashed. That's what I'm talking about.
- I do, however, prefer more from my PDA than Cacko provides, which is why I try out other distro to see how they are. All of them I've tried have feeds that contain all the software I'm truly interested in, so that's not a concern for me, and about all of them seem to support my rather modest hardware needs. But all of them also fail the stability test ... so far. (shrug)
- It may sound like I'm knocking everyone's hard work, but that's not the case. I admire the people who spend all that time and energy making something I can simply try out on a lark, and I appreciate the passion it takes to do that. I'm just picky! If I had that passion I'd be helping, being a developer myself, but I'm too lazy.
- I'd happily pay for a modern OS based on a current kernel with "true" Linux fuctionality as long as it is stable.

hmm, wouldn't it be cool to port the iphone software to the zaurus?

OTOH, the google android code has been ripped and made to run on the zaurus.

What good would the iPhone code be on the Z? It's based around multi-touch, which doesn't really transfer well to single-touch IMO.