Hello All,
I was comparing rates for broadband internet for downloading linux distro isos and find that over a period of one year, the rates are still high, compared to the number of cds/dvds that can be downloaded. For example a 600/- per month NU plan becomes 7200/- per year. How many CDs or DVDs would a person actually download in one year for 7200/-? Plus, many places in India, Asia as well as Africa are still undeveloped and broadband is not available.
The World Space satellite radio is a technology that was meant to spread radio to the whole of Asia and Africa. The receivers now start at a Rs. 1500/- one time investment.
So can the world Linux community come together and launch its own satellite with multiple channels, each channel representing a linux brand, like Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Gentoo etc. The downloads will be in the form of serial broadcasts in the form of a programme schedule. A timer in the receiver records the ISO download at that time. A mini HDD inside the receiver can record the data. This helps those who don't have facilities to mount antennas or don't face the satt. They can take the receiver and antenna outside, download and then come back in to transfer it to their pcs. At high one way speeds, downloads should be very fast. The entire service should be free of cost to download.
How much would such a satellite cost and which country has the minimum taxes for such a launch? The entire linux community could contribute for this, along with donations from big distro companies and some Govts. It should last us for 15 years. Technically what would be the maximum download speed available for one way broadcasts?
Regards,
Rony.
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