Following the example set by Canonical Ltd in shipping Ubuntu family of distribution CD/DVDs free of cost to anywhere around the world, Ryab Cloke has taken the initiative of doing the same for non-Ubuntu GNU/Linux distributions. Ryab Cloke is the owner of the popular commercial store that sells GNU/Linux CD/DVDs for one of the cheapest prices among similar online stores. Through ‘Free Linux Disks’ project, he hopes to extend his dream of doing more for the community. It remains to be seen how successful this initiative will be as there is no big financial company to back the project, but Ryab Cloke is hopeful that, apart from their own investment towards the project, donations from the other quarters will keep the project going.

There are other questions regarding the necessity of such a project when the GNU/Linux CDs are available for such cheap rates from so many online/local stores. The question being asked is if someone is not willing to pay $5 + shipping to buy a GNU/Linux CD, how reasonable is it to expect the same people to invest time and effort to install the GNU/Linux and get over the initial learning curve. From what I can see, though, the free shipping of the CDs will help tremendously in making GNU/Linux popular in third-world countries like India, as

  1. there are no/few local stores in such countries
  2. the shipping cost becomes a significant factor in such countries even if someone can afford the negligible $5 to buy the CDs.

There were many requests for Ubuntu/Kubuntu CDs from such countries but the popularity, and hence demand, for Fedora and SUSE CDs is considerably more(according to my estimations). If the current project can hold the initial storm of requests and can get on its feet, then I am sure it will do a lot of good to popularising GNU/Linux in atleast the third-world countries. Another concern is that the abuse from some quarters (that is bound to be there) might get absorbed by a giant company like Canonical Ltd but the same may not hold true for the current project where every single donation seems to matter so much. Unless it finds solid support from the community.

For those who are interested in requesting the the CD of their favourite GNU/Linux distribution, the procedure is very simple(even registeration is not needed!) and the interface very straighforward to follow. The following screenshots should provide a visual tour through the request process.

Go to the home page of the website and scroll down to see the options available for selecting a GNU/Linux distribution of your choice.
Select the GNU/Linux Distribution(Eg: Fedora)
Once you select your favourite distribution, you need to fill out the shipping address where the CD/DVD needs to be delivered. You will get a confirmation email at the email address you specify in this form once you complete the request order successfully.
Fill Your Address Details
Just a confirmation to check if you have entered everything correctly. Click “Submit Request” button if everything is OK.
Confirm Your Address Details

After this, you are shown your confirmation code which you can later use to check the status of your request order. This confirmation code is also sent to the email address that you have provided while filling out the address form. Here is the status request form. (Use the ‘Status’ link at the top-right corner of the page to get here).
Check Status of Your Order

The current status of the request order is shown.
Status of Your Order

Do note that you can order only one distribution at a time and you won’t be allowed to order another CD/DVD for 14 days. So select your choice of distribution carefully.
You can't order another CD in the next 14 days

You can also buy the GNU/Linux CD/DVDs for very cheap prices from the commercial store of the same website. A better option in my opinion if the shipping costs are not prohibitive.
Buy cheap GNU/Linux CD/DVDs from commercial store

Apart from donating towards the project(or becoming a sponsor), you can also support the project by adding a link to its website from your blog/website(lookout for a cool button on the home page of the website). And ofcourse, by spreading the good word about it.