Re: Live CDs for upcoming shows

Joshua D. Drake wrote:
> Hello,
>
> O.k. folks, it is that time of year again. Normally we press anywhere
> from 500-1000 live cds for the upcoming years events. However, I am
> starting to wonder if it is worth it.
>
I think it might be a good idea to have a little phone home option
(something as simple as a quick wget on boot or something) to get an
idea as to how many of these are actually ever loaded - it wouldn't be
the best metric, but it would be something. That might be the first
step in trying to figure out how useful they are to produce.

IMHO, USB sticks are pretty much freely available nowadays, and if they
are less than 1GB, people don't tend to keep 'em around anyways. Also,
the give-away rate for USB sticks would be higher, since they have more
intrinsic value than a CD.

As for pricing. Our memory stick vendor charges for a $5.65 for a 128
MB stick (quantity of 250) with a single color screened image (for
example, we could choose a blue stick and put a white elephant on it, or
a white stick with a blue elephant). For 256MB its $5.75. To pre-load
an image its 35 cents per stick.

I really have to wonder how many people actually use these things. In
either case, I think we should put some auto-play stuff on these to open
a page on the web site that lets us track the usage through google
analytics, or perhaps even allow people to optionally fill in a survey.

> Yes they are grabbers for people, but how many people actually use it?
>
> I can honestly say the last CD I grabbed and used what a Solaris DVD
> just because they finally released a DVD versus 7 ISO image downloads.
>
> Do we want to spend the money? And frankly, do we want to be part of
> that environmental impact? Does it matter?
>
> Another option would be to get preloaded pen drives. They are more
> expensive but certainly more interesting, usable and durable.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Joshua D. Drake
>
>
>
>
>

--
Chander Ganesan
The Open Technology Group
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Morrisville, NC 27560
Phone: 877-258-8987/919-463-0999
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