While I hate to do it and I wish I could keep from doing it but with the release of PC/OS 2009, OpenWorkstation, the DVD ISO will only be sold and prebundled with OEM's. It will no longer be offered for free and for download.

1) Why am I charging for it?

As for any initiative and project the project needs support financial included. While it would be nice to keep offering it for free, the costs prohibit it and since donations arent exactly pouring in I had to do something. So I talked it over with the other devs and they agreed with this avenue.

2) How will it be offered?

It will be offered with on-disk.com and through any established OEM's,as well as an option for preload on the Hard Drives. Digital delivery will also be offered. All proceeds will be spent on the project.

3) What editions will continue to be offered?

PC/OS OpenDesktop 2009 will be downloadable and freely distributable as will OpenServer System 2008.

4) What will people who buy OpenWorkstation get with their purchase?

If you purchase OpenWorkstation you will get 30 days e-mail support, you will get media and you will also get on-disks or the vendors support mechanism.

5) Will the price change from whats currently offered?

Yes, the price will go up to $19.99 USD per copy. for digital delivery it will be $12.99

6) Will it ever be downloadable again?

When it becomes feasible and the project becomes self sustaining it will but until that happens I will have to charge for it.

7) Will PC/OS OpenWorkstation 2008v2 be downloadable still?

No, PC/OS OpenWorkstation 2008v2 will be removed from the download and torrent sections upon delivery of PC/OS 2009. The price for that will not change on on-disk.

I went over everything I could trying to find an alternative and nothing hammered out so Im stuck between a rock and a hard place. For what I want to do and whats good for the project.

This sucks balls. I cant believe it. Ubuntu offers free CD's and you can download Mint for free. I see no reason, nor will I pay for PC/OS.

Ubuntu offers free CD's, yet they have a millionaire funding it. Linux Mint is free yet they make money off of donations and sponsorships. I have no sponsorships, I have very few monetary donations. I have to do something. We have already had to scale way back from the roadmap. Instead of a November release of 2009, we are now looking at the new year as a release date. But the one thing that gets me is the progress we have made, Psystar is offering PC/OS as an option, which is good it gets us exposure. We have the exposure but it takes a lot to keep a project going, there are costs involved and I have had to cover all these costs myself.

I do realize this is not going to be a popular decision but its one that had to be done.

I will buy it. I could see the outrage if PC/OS was crap, buts its definitely worth 20 bucks cmon now

Maybe I was a little harsh. Most distributions do this. They offer a basic edition for free and charge for a more advanced version. Sorry I was such a dick about it. I would buy PC/OS, I use it on everything now and I doubt i will change.

I was personally hoping that on Oct 1 to pull the PC/OS 2008v2 ISO, but I was vetoed and ultimately its up to the lead developer.

I have spoken to many users about visual aspects of PC/OS and this is one of my jobs. Another thing that has been discussed is that users want prebuilt systems, users want faster downloads and it would be nice but these things take funds. As one poster said before, other distros do this and so will PC/OS. Of course if the community has any ideas on how we can continue to offer all releases of PC/OS for free and still make funds to support the project do let us know.

And the reason I didnt do that is because PC/OS 2008v2 is already posted to Softpedia and to other areas on the web, it would be redundant to pull it.

This is just my 2 cents, but i will toss it in anyway. I have been using this distro since I discovered it a couple of months back,
and when the new versions have come out it always gets better than the previous one. When the next release becomes available, I plan to pay for it. At $20, I thinks it's a steal anyway. I have looked at other distros in the past that have claimed to be "The Cure" for the M$ infection on my computer. Only to find out that they are unstable and buggy AFTER you make a mandatory donation to them to get it. I think it is solid, reliable software, I plan to keep using it, so I think it isn't a big deal to pay for it.

Hello

I've just installed PC/OS 2009 ! It looks great
I'm very happy with one taskbar instead of two. How can i install Lazarus ? (I installed Desktop version)

can i purchase PC/OS with VISA card ?

bibi wrote: How can i install Lazarus ? (I installed Desktop version)

sorry for posting this some time ago

i struggle a little bit and installed FreePascal and Lazarus from .deb packages

It looked much harder at the first glance, but it was really easy, even for a noob like me ...