From: jennings@lhotse.stortek.com (Jeff Jennings) Subject: Re: ANNOUNCE: Installation Support Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 22:58:24 GMT
Kelvin J. Hill (kelvin@thed.uk22.bull.com) wrote:
(support offer by Mountain Alternative Systems deleted)
: As there has been no overt attempt to sell the software but only to emphasise
: that this is an INSTALLATION service, please could those in the know comment
: on the a) legality and b) ethics of such a service. PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT
: IN ANY WAY A FLAME OF EITHER PARTY. I really would like to know the ins and
: outs of such an offer, (just in case I decide to offer one in the UK :-).
: Kelvin.
What's the problem? If you don't need anyone to hold your hand, don't
hire these folks. If you need some help installing, here's someone offering
their services. Linux is distributed under the GNU Copyleft, which does
not state that the software is free, as in money, but does state that
the software is free, meaning I can't put a more restrictive copyright
on it, and I can't deny you access to the source code. I could charge
$10,000 per copy of Linux if I could get anyone to buy it. (Any takers?)
The GNU folks charge for their tapes, $200 per tape last time I checked.
Cygnus makes a business by selling support for GNU type software, like
gcc and such.
The thing to keep in mind here is that the GNU Copyleft uses free to
mean intellectual freedom, not monetary cost.
- jeff