RANT: So I had to pay for Ubuntu 8.04!

So last month my ADSL router got stuck by lightning, the third time in six months! So I have been limited to a measly 1GB cap on 3G until I get a replacement router and until Telkom comes and repairs the fault on that line. I then felt the sudden urge to try out the new Ubuntu, luckily I remembered you could order a copy of Ubuntu on their site and they will ship it to you. It takes a few weeks but its free and I wouldn’t have to use what little bandwidth cap I have. Only this time it wasn’t free…

I got one of those cards the post office drops off when you get a package, printed on it was the charge of R12.50. Now I wondered to myself, what did I order internationally that would need me to pay? Was it a DVD? No I buy those from Kalahari…Was it a book I might of ordered? No don’t think I ordered one…Was it a super awesome prize that I had somehow won in some online competition? YES! It has to be that! Yay! But wait…I ordered that copy of Ubuntu, but that’s free? It is isn’t it?

So I went to the post office hoping to pick up a monster package with some awesome prize in it, only to find…shock horror! It was my copy of Ubuntu! And I had to pay for it!

Now who exactly is to blame for me having to pay for my copy of Ubuntu? Short answer…South African customs. They obviously are illiterate and could not read the nice letter Canonical wrote them on the back of the package. The one saying that what was inside was free and not for sale. The one explaining what opensource is and what the purpose of it was. The one that asked that if the reader did not understand to please not to hesitate to contact Canonical.

Oh well, guess we all know what goes on these days. R12.50 was still nothing to pay for this great operating system. And just a big thanks to the guys at Ubuntu for making such a great product.