Novell and SuSE

Thank you. That was very interesting, particularly the different views =
regarding licensing. It, (licensing), appears to be something of a =
labyrinth both ethically and legally. It kinda' sounds like many of the =
problems lie with the decentralization of effort. =20

Maybe it depends upon one's definition of success, but I'm fairly =
certain that capitalism, like sex, is here to stay, and to succeed there =
must be a common objective. Thanks again.

Frank Davenport


=20


----- Original Message -----=20
From: "Chris Gehlker" <chris@GCCodeFactory.biz>
To: <plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: Novell and SuSE


> On Jan 17, 2004, at 7:37 AM, Craig White wrote:
>=20
> > isn't the 'individual' user of Red Hat or xyz distro losing out by =
the
> > restriction that their distro isn't free to borrow or use the YAST=20
> > code?
> >
> > doesn't the impact of the YAST license restrictions actually extend
> > beyond just the sale for profit?
>=20
> Sure, at least to the extent that YaST is actually superior to the=20
> GPLed alternatives. I already conceded that Red Hat was a better =
member=20
> of the community than SUSE. That doesn't make SUSE the devil. Note =
that=20
> a non-profit distro like Debian can use YaST if they want.
>=20
> > The distinction (between the GPL and YaST licenses) is or at least=20
> > should be important to people.
> >
> > Let's not forget that the corporate world has been a most integral =
part
> > of development under the GPL and compatible license software. The =
GPL
> > license has undoubtedly been a catalyst for this if for no other =
reason
> > than the overall API doesn't rest in the hands of a corporation =
whose
> > direction may change at any moment. We have been witnessing the =
impact
> > of this for many years now.
>=20
> Sure it's important. It's just not, in my opinion, important enough to =

> justify using emotionally loaded words like 'Freedom' to characterize=20
> one side. By granting users a right to redistribute the GPL guarantees =

> that *in practice* nobody is going to make a pile of money reselling=20
> FOSS. SUSE just goes the extra step of denying de jure what the GPL=20
> denies de facto. And while Red Hat may forgo the use of copyright law=20
> to try to differentiate their product, they don't hesitate to use=20
> trademark law to achieve the same ends.
>=20
> So I agree that the distinction should be important to people but I=20
> also think that it has been overstated here and elsewhere. It is not=20
> as big as difference as those among the GPL, the RPL and the BSD=20
> license, for example. And certainly the GPL, the RPL, the YaST license =

> and the BSD license are a lot more like each other than any of them =
are=20
> like a typical EULA.
>=20
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