Selling a Newly Created Linux

Mokusei said:
Either way, I've got a head-start on you. :)
As aforementioned, tips and help only, no unneeded criticism. Besides, I don't know you or care about your opinion, so you've wasted your time. Feel free to leave. :)
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I was not aware I had been entered in a race. I'll stick around anyway - I have a morbid fascination with watching people make fools of themselves - so uplifting, y'know. :p
 
I have a question. Why do you want to create another Linux. Or even, why would you want to create another UNIX? If you're really starting from the ground up, why not trying something totally new? There are enough Unices out there, and if you have something really original it'd probably be easier to get people to contribute.

And for my little bit of criticism I'd like to tell like to tell you like everybody else here that it will take at least 5 years of hard work to get a prototype that anyone besides yourself will want to use. You don't know C (or any other language suitable for writing and OS with...I'm not sure about Delphi though) and you don't seem to know anything about systems programming.

My suggestion is that you learn C and try to get yourself to a level where you can contribute kernel patches. You'll soon discover what a futile effort writing an OS from scratch is. If at this point you still want to create your own OS then, and only then will you be in a position to do this.
 
Hi Mokusei,

Some questions:
  1. What is your unique offering that will make people choose your OS over Windows, Mac or Linux?
  2. How do you plan to market your OS? There have been numerous OSs in the past that have been very good that have failed, in no small part due to marketing (OS2; BEOS)
  3. Do you see this as a main stream OS with an over 1% market share, or a niche OS with perhaps a 0.01% market share?
  4. What do you see your role as being? (MD / Programmer / Project Manager)
  5. How do you plan to get funding? This will be a full time operation, and you will need to support yourself during this period, and almost certainly a number of programmers.
  6. What sort of time frame are you looking at?

From what you have said, you see this as a viable commercial venture. I would recommend that for the first step you draw up a thorough business plan looking at the above points. At the end of this exercise, you will have an idea of how viable your venture is and whether you should go further.

With a project like this, I would hazard a guess that you will spend most of your time in administration and would need to delegate most, if not all the work to specialist programmers.
 
icyrus said:
You can sell GPL software as long as you comply with the terms set out in the license - most notably making the source code (and any changes you make) available to whoever you distribute the binaries to.

If you would rather not deal with the GPL, use the BSD kernel. It makes absolutely not sense whatsoever to re-implement all that work.
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Glad that finally got straightened out. There've been plenty of attempts to sell Linux (Suse anyone?) that did ok for a while but not great.

Perhaps it's time to look at this a different way from the normal persons perspective and not the techies. What does a normal person think of when you say "operating system" - they have no clue of the underlying tasks or technology and simply think "interface". They think "windows" or they think "mac" and they think of a graphical interface.

There are THOUSANDS of linux distros, dozens if not hundreds of Bsd's, plus Gnu Hurdes. People really don't care what's underneath as long as it works and looks pretty. If you want to create a new kernel go ahead - but if you really want to contribute where it's most needed in the open source world write a new GUI. Even if it's based off KDE or Gnome or another windowing system. Or write a GUI from scratch. The current gui's are ok but not slick enough to compete with Mac or Windows. Let Linux or BSD worry about compatibility, drivers, file systems, memory controllers.
 
Mokusei said:
I'm sure somebody else also has this passion, as you must've had observers. ;)

And if it is indeed to watch me 'make a fool of myself' then you're in the wrong place. If I fail, I've learned something, if I succeed, I've learned something and given you the finger. Either works for me.
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I admit that at this point I do not take your OS ambitions at all seriously, but who knows?

Thus, might I make a suggestion. Go take a proven OS core, maybe one of the BSDs, or even Darwin, and create the GUI part of the OS on top of the core. Apple do it, with MacOS X, which they sell commercially.
 
If you would like an idea where to start - take a look at OS/2's WorkPlace Shell - and then try to create a clean-room implementation of that.

Wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_Shell

WPS for Windows 3.1 :eek: :D : http://toastytech.com/guis/wps.html

OS/2 eZine on the WPS for Windows 3.1 : http://www.os2ezine.com/v1n6/wps4win.html

A suggestion : There is a link on the Wikipedia article to the WPS for Windows sourcecode - you can download it and see what is needed and all that, just to get you started. As first project, maybe you can try to get it to work on WindowsXP/Vista? :D

Once you got the front end (GUI) all worked out, then maybe you can start looking at tackling the kernel? :)

And good luck. :)
 
Mokusei said:
Okay, I might indeed decide to just write a GUI over a working kernel, but then which kernel am I allowed to use, modify, and then sell without ANY trouble? Linux is a no go, as I am not going to be happy to reveal source. And if BSD is the way, how do I go about doing that because the original BSD kernel is something that I can't seem to find anywhere. Would I modify FreeBSD? If so, can I sell a modified version without penalty?
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You don't sell the core, you sell the "gui".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)
 
Just got this fortune:
Do-It-Yourself IPO

You too can get rich quick by translating an existing Linux
distribution into one of the following untapped markets:

- Babylonian
- Hittite
- Ancient Egyptian (hieroglyphics may be a challenge, though)
- Pig Latin (this may be the strongest type of encryption allowed by the
DOJ in the near future)
- Mayan
- Cherokee
- Cyrillic (to take advantage of the booming Russian economy)
- Redneck
- Klingon (it's a wonder this hasn't been done yet)
- Wingdings

Once you start marketing your new product, a highly lucrative
self-underwritten IPO is just months away!
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Afrikaanse Linux?

Dink nie dit sal golwe maak nie :D

Tried the Afrikaans LIP for Windows - uninstalled it after an hour.
 
Mokusei said:
Then surely I can modify Linux, sell the package as a product, and claim that I modified the kernel, but not making a profit on that, only making profit from my self-designed UI?
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People will ask for your modified code. Don't claim something you can't substantiate.
 
Mokusei said:
No, I will actually modify the code. What I'm saying is that will I be allowed to modify the code but not make profit off of it, only make profit from the GUI. I can say that all profit earned is on the GUI. Is this possible?
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Why not demonstrate that you are not entirely clueless by researching your questions yourself?
 
Mokusei said:
How can research be done on an original question? What I am doing is research.
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No, you're asking other people to do the research for you. Most of the info you need is easily discoverable via a google search.
 
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Mokusei said:
You are so beyond childish. I always wonder why South Africa's general society mentality is so extremely low and now I realize that it's the lowlifes running around the Internet playing as virtual users and they think they run the world with their underdeveloped 'humor'. I've always pitied people like you and thought it might improve over time. My faith in that hope is totally invested in the wrong place. Do me a favor and see the bigger picture that is the world. Do you honestly think that your post shows any form of maturity? This is the exact reason why your negative comments do not even reach me because we are not on the same level.
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Looks like I touched a nerve or two there, lazy boy, hehe! When you have something other than talk and moronic questions to show for all your superiority, come and do so please. :p
 
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