[Ilugc] Red Hat Linux Enterprise Edition
- From: tom@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Tom Jose Tharayil)
- Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 01:38:44 -0600 (CST)
I have just joined this mailing list. I am from Mumbai and am the
founder of linux.mejokj.com which distributes(not selling) cheap linux
cds. I have got a question and I think that this is the best place to
get the answer for it. Is it legal to distribute Red Hat Linux
Enterprise Edition distribution CDs ?? I have got it with me and am
interested to distribute it through my website. Please let me know.
Q: You mentioned licensing - what does this mean? I thought Linux was free.
A: Except for a few components provided by third parties (for example,
Java) all the code in Red Hat products is open source and licensed under
the GPL (or a similar license, such as the LGPL). So you always have free
access to the source code. In fact you can download it from our FTP
servers at any time. However, Red Hat does not provide free access to the
binaries of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and these, combined with an annual
subscription to Red Hat Network, access to upgrades, and a selected
support services, are the components that Red Hat bundles into each Red
Hat Enterprise Linux solution. Since every Red Hat Enterprise Linux
product includes support for the system on which it is installed, Red Hat
supplies the products with a per-system usage/support subscription. This
simple model ensures that systems which useRed Hat Enterprise Linux are
able to access the maintenance, services and product upgrades to which
they are entitled. Of course, as mentioned before, this has no impact on
your access to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux source code.
Thats' a good question.....
The last line says that this has no restrictions on our access to RHEL
source. I think this means that source minus the binaries is available to
us. But distribution of EL CD's would be an outright violation of
copyright.
--
Best Regards
Tom Jose Tharayil
tom@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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