Open Source Software
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Table of Contents Table of Contents.........................................................................................................................2 Introduction..................................................................................................................................3 The Problem.................................................................................................................................3 The Solution.................................................................................................................................3 Bundling Open Source Applications with Windows...........................................................4 Selling Dual-Boot Windows and Linux Systems.................................................................5 Open Source Software..................................................................................................................7 A Note on the Software........................................................................................................7 Copying and Redistribution.................................................................................................7 A Note on Sources................................................................................................................7 Legal and Licencing Note....................................................................................................7 Cybersource ± The Organization..................................................................................................7 Software Catalog..........................................................................................................................8 OpenOffice.org ± The Future of Office Suites.....................................................................8 Firefox ± Secure Web Browsing..........................................................................................8 PDFCreator ± Printing Manager...........................................................................................9 Thunderbird ± An Email Client............................................................................................9 TurboCash ± Accounting System.......................................................................................10 GIMP ± Photo Manipulation Program...............................................................................10 Xara Xtreme ± Fast & Versatile Vector Graphics..............................................................11 Inkscape ± Scalable Vector Graphics................................................................................11 Blender 3D ± Powerful Design & Rendering System........................................................12 QCAD ± 2D Computer Aided Design and Drafting..........................................................12 Scribus ± Desktop Publishing Suite...................................................................................13 Audacity - The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor...........................................................13 NVU ± A Web content editor.............................................................................................14 ClamAV ± Anti-Virus........................................................................................................14 Celestia ± A True Space Simulator....................................................................................15 FreeCiv ± Competitive Resource Planning Game..............................................................15 BZFlag ± 3D Team Battle Tank Strategy Game................................................................16 Flightgear ± High Quality Open Flight Sim.......................................................................16 Battle for Wesnoth ± Real Time Strategy Team Game......................................................17 TuxPaint ± Fun Paint Program for Kids.............................................................................17 Note: All trademarks and their owners are duly noted. Cybersource Pty. Ltd. Open Source and Systems Builders: Using Open Source to Double Your Margins Page 2 of 17 http://www.cybersource.com.au/ Build: 24 [email protected] Introduction This toolkit offers local system builders and hardware resellers a method for differentiating their PCs and laptops from those of top tier hardware vendors ± this can be achieved by bundling open source software with your hardware. Such an approach offers customers additional perceived value, making it possible for system builders to charge higher prices while not incurring any additional per-unit costs. In this toolkit, we look at a recipe-like approach for achieving this goal, and offer a sample of the types of open source software that could be bundled. The Problem For system builders, the biggest medium and long-term threat comes from the brand-name (tier-1 and tier-2) vendors. These vendors buy OEM Windows licences for perhaps $90 a unit less than you do. They therefore have that price difference as an extra margin of fat to play with when setting retail pricing. This means they are able to set their hardware prices far lower than would otherwise be the case in a level-playing field, while still able to make more profit. How does a whitebox system builder compete with the tier-1 and tier-2 vendors, who get much cheaper OEM pricing from Microsoft? This toolkit provides you with an answer. In addition, the whitebox market has become totally cut-throat. Margins are very low, making long-term business survival difficult for many. How can you grow your margins for your whitebox desktops and laptops? We©ll cover that question, too. The Solution The solution is a simple strategy - one that makes use of software which the tier-1 and tier-2 vendors wont bundle for fear of offending Microsoft: Linux and open source software. Linux is the dominant server platform on the Internet, and is also installed on around 50 million desktops worldwide. Open source software such OpenOffice.org and Firefox, have around 100 million users and growing fast. This means that such software has become mainstream and is a viable value-add for you to consider for your PC products. Simply slapping Linux onto a PC and trying to sell it, is not the easy approach however - it takes a little more effort than that. There are multiple steps to this process and it may take your business a few months to fine- tune. To begin the process, you need to select a product from your existing, lower-end PC or laptop line. Let©s say you retail a white-brand laptop for $850. We©ll assume you make a margin of 10% on this ($85). And we©ll also assume that this laptop ships with Microsoft Windows XP Home. Our aim is to make this laptop generate 20 points of margin for you, rather than 10, namely Cybersource Pty. Ltd. Open Source and Systems Builders: Using Open Source to Double Your Margins Page 3 of 17 http://www.cybersource.com.au/ Build: 24 [email protected] $160 per unit. Bundling Open Source Applications with Windows We can try to do this by the following means. 1) Keep the existing laptop on your catalogs - let©s call it the ©SoHo Laptop© for simplicity. 2) You now add a new entry into your product catalog and call it the ©Soho Laptop Plus Puck©. 3) On this laptop, you will continue installing Windows XP Home rather than replace it with Linux. Our first approach to making you more money is to aim for as big a mass market as possible, and only Windows can give you that for now. We will look to add Linux into the mix at a latter date. If you are a system builder which ships OS-less bare hardware, then jump straight to the pre-installed Linux recipe, later in this toolkit. 4) You will now add the top 10-20 open source user and business apps, such as Firefox, Thunderbird, PDFCreator, OpenOffice.org, Scribus, Gimp, Xara Extreme, Inkscape, and a few games. More information on these applications is provided in this toolkit. SoHo Laptop Plus Pack Key Features: - 1 Year Return to Base Warranty - 120GB 7200 rpm HDD - AMD Sempron 2800 Processor - DDR 400 512MB RAM - Delux ATX 450W Tower - DVD Writer (16x Dual layer) - LCD Monitor 17 inch The Plus Pack Includes: All Plus Pack systems ship with the following software pre-installed: Microsoft Compatible Office Suite (OpenOffice.org) Secure Web Browser (Firefox) Email Client (Thunderbird) PDF Creator – Create PDFs from any application Graphics paint program (The Gimp) Anti-virus Desktop Publisher (Scribus) Drawing program (Inkscape) Drawing 1: Sample of an advertisement showing the differentiation packaging for the Plus Pack, bundling open source software. 5) We©ve included of a mockup of just such a Plus Pack. You©ll obviously have better design people than we do, so you©ll do a better job than we have, but this demonstrates what needs to be done, and how. Cybersource Pty. Ltd. Open Source and Systems Builders: Using Open Source to Double Your Margins Page 4 of 17 http://www.cybersource.com.au/ Build: 24 [email protected] 6) You can build an install script which will pull these apps off a CD you insert into your WinXP systems, and do an unattended install of all of them. 7) If you have any scalability issues with this step, Cybersource has built a scripted installation solution which will do unattended installs of XP (and Linux), all XP service packs, plus all these apps and your own branding (wallpaper, screen-savers, etc.). You simply insert the CD, select which ©SOE build© you want and our installer will do the rest. However,