I just wanted you to know that I do appreciate all the work that is put into these CDs, first with TheOpenCD and now with TheOpenDisc.
I started a free (as in free beer) software CD of my own a few years ago for my sister-in-law who bought a new computer but was surprised it didn't have any software, and was further surprised about the cost of software. She also only had dial-up Internet, which prevented her from downloading a lot of software on her own.
My first CD was basically a bunch of install files with a text file explaining what everything was. Not easy to use, but easy to make.
At the time, my focus, as I said, was mostly on free (as in free beer, at least for home use) software, but I did include a few open-source programs. Over time, my CD has made the transition into mostly open-source (now, 26 of the 35 programs are open-source). I never sold this CD, but I did give copies as presents to family, friends, and co-workers (they make great Christmas presents).
Then I found TheOpenCD. I wish I could say I made the transition to that instead of my CD, but I can't. I did use several programs, but there were several non-open-source programs that I think are just too important to not be included (the biggest one... until ClamWin has real-time scanning that is easy to implement, I can't recommend it as a primary anti-virus program, but I think anti-virus programs are critical for Windows, which leaves me with a choice between AVG and Avast, both of which are free for home use only).
(BTW, that should in no way be considered a criticism of TheOpenCD or TheOpenDisc, merely a difference in philosophy.)
But I think it was last year, TheOpenCD had instructions on how to create your own software CD using K-Meleon. I followed those instructions, and vastly improved the usability of my CD. I maintain the software on my CD so, when the situation arises, I can have a copy of it burned off onto CD in less than 10 minutes, with all of the software being no more than a week out of date (usually). I also keep the ISO of TheOpenCD (well, TheOpenDisc now) in case the need for that should pop up (especially for business considerations), so I hand out that as well.
You'd think it is just a simple matter of adding programs, or downloading the latest versions, but it is a lot more complicated than that. And it is a lot more work to keep up-to-date than most people would think. And my CD isn't nearly as professionally designed as TheOpenCD/Disc, nor do I have hundreds of people waiting to download my latest version (OK, I don't make mine available to download, but still...).
I wrote Chris most of this in an email a few months back, but I wanted to publicly state my appreciation for all of the efforts that go into this.