WiFi Network Asks Who You'd Rather Be Like: Linus Torvalds Or Bill Gates
from the put-your-WiFi-where-your-mouth-is dept
An entrepreneur is apparently trying to build up a unified WiFi network by getting various people to offer up their own WiFi access points to the network. There are a number of questions about the idea as stated, starting with how they think they’re getting around most broadband providers’ terms of service that say you’re not allowed to share the connection (yes, there are a few that allow sharing, but it’s a very small number). However, the reason we bring this story up is the somewhat amusing dichotomy the guy sets up between participants. Anyone who joins the network by putting his or her access point in the network has to choose between two different participation plans: the “Linus” plan or the “Bill” plan — named after Linus Torvalds and Bill Gates. Linus users share their access point for free and, based on that, get to roam the rest of the network for free. Bill users get 50% of the revenue their access point generates — but don’t get to roam on the network. Of course, this is where the plan breaks down again: nowhere is it explained where anyone ever pays any money, so it’s not at all clear how the Bills make any money, which seems rather un-Bill-like.
Comments on “WiFi Network Asks Who You'd Rather Be Like: Linus Torvalds Or Bill Gates”
Sounds to me like South Park money making ethics
* Step one: Steal underpants
* Step two:
* Step three: Profit.
Any questions?
Re: Sounds to me like South Park money making ethi
At least step two is really easy. Maybe I’ll take a quick nap while I wait for step three.
Where the money comes from
Re: nowhere is it explained where anyone ever pays any money.
The article seems to say that people not involved in the scheme pay 5 cents per minute. Presumably this is the money shared with the Bills.
Re: Where the money comes from
“”Bill users get 50% of the revenue their access point generates “”
$.05 per minute = $.025 per minute for “Bill users”…
We’ll say most broadband connections are $30 a month. Which equates to a mere 1200 minutes to pay for your connection or 20 hours or 40 minutes a day for a month.
Not bad if you can get concurrent users… Then again, how many people will ever get that much activity on their network from paying customers? People that plan on using it would be better off being “Linus users” thus the “Bill users” would get NO SOUP!
Which again begs the question… why aren’t we living in a Communist State? The logic is undeniable in this situation! The illusion of money making schemes is what drives our economy…
Can this statement actually be true?
Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for… In order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house, which you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.
Another foot in the CAN from Bill Gates! YES!!
Re: Re: Where the money comes from
“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for… In order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house, which you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.”
Hey, that’s one of the quotes of the day!
Re: Re: Where the money comes from
Yeah, I think I am a commie also.
Capitalism is retarded, but it works because most Americans are retarded.
Re: Where the money comes from
The article seems to say that people not involved in the scheme pay 5 cents per minute. Presumably this is the money shared with the Bills.
Yeah, but who’s paying that if everyone signs up for a Linus account to go with their Bill account, they all get free roaming while waiting for the money to roll in.
Wrong idea...
As mentioned in the commentary, most ISP’s do not allow you to share your internet connection.
What I have seen in at least one Muni-Wifi in Manchester, NH, is that somebody supplies the pipe and local residents act as volunteers and set up repeaters to extend the range. In other words, this is commercially backed by Signull Technologies, and people are encouraged to act as repeaters for free access. Hence, free municipal Wifi. Getting cooperation from the politicos is easy… they set up a free hotspot in and around city hall where the politicians and their staff can see, first hand, the benefits.
Other cities can do the same thing; the hardest part is finding a company that understands and desires the publicity and good will that will result from their participation in such a project (and maybe throw in a few ads in the login screen as well…)
This isn’t a “Bill vs Linus” thing here but a marriage of the two… “Bill” (in the form of Signull Technologies) providing the pipe, and “Linus” (in the form of volunteers with repeaters) sharing it among the rest of the city. If only the real Bill and Linus could play together like that…!
Everything
Everything shall be free
Re: Everything
“”If only the real Bill and Linus could play together like that…!””
You’d better becareful, that is dangerously close to LiBill! Sorry bad joke of the day! ahahahah
Entrepreneur? In Argentina?
The “entrepreneur” is from Argentina, a very socialist country. Does anyone think that might have some bearing on this story and the guy’s view of life?
And sharing your connection? Why – so when the perv down the street downloads kiddie porn, the feds come after you? And the kid next door runs P2P shares and the RIAA finds out about it and YOU get the lawsuit?
Oh yeah, open ’em up them connections.
Re: Wireless networks
In response to the last posting, with them just adding a wireless company in our town that seems to be interested in a community approach. It seems that this may not be too far fetched for inner city use. It would advance the intelligence of the masses tenfold I would think over the long haul.
Re: Re: Wireless networks
When I spent some time in Sofia, Bulgaria earlier this year, I was amazed to see Cat5 and switches literally hanging off tree branches. Seems their method of providing network connectivity is to share on link and then switch that to everyone in town using anything and everything to run cat5 over. The people sell it for about $10 US a month. But, the average working family makes only $700 US a month.
With DSL rates at only $20-40 a month US, do we need “free” internet? If you do, go to a free hotspot, library, or other community spot. People seem to forget that telecommunication companies exist in this country on a scale off the charts compared to other countries. Plus having internet is not a right, it is a service. This is exactly why VoIP companies are not subject to telecom regulations and the ruling on E911 for their services got delayed. If you want these things to fall under municipalities, then you will get more restrictions, less privacy and fewer features. One person hosting some pay service on the free municipal network will destroy thoughput for everyone else.
As soon as people can take advantage of something for nothing, someone else will take that away. Just look at people trying to say that by Google and eBay making so much money on the internet, the people who provide customers access to that revenue should get some action. That concept was pushed when Montana tried to tax aircraft that flew over their state, claming it was their airspace and they could tax it. Thankfully that never happened, but in this new realm of wireless for nothing, something will happen, and happen very soon.
WiFi Network Asks Who You'd Rather Be Like: Linus
Obviously Bill Gates.
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