[wellylug] Lycoris Desktop/LX Software

Donald Gordon don at dis.org.nz
Sun Mar 14 22:10:05 NZDT 2004


On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 21:27:48 +1300 Michael Dittmer <michael.dittmer at paradise.net.nz> wrote:

> The question is: Why does the linux community (and I'm not just talking
> people here in NZ) have a problem with companies making money from Linux.

When they're advertising on your LUG's list, it gets annoying.  I agree
with Phillip and Tim.

> For those of you who don't like that fact that DevTools and Source don't
> come with the OS, fine. You are not Lycoris's target market.

You might want to think about the terms of the GPL if you're selling
copies of a distribution that doesn't come with source - does it come with:
                                                                                
                          "a written offer, valid for at least three
    years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
    cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
    machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
    distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
    customarily used for software interchange"

       -- GPL, section 3b

(I can't see why it wouldn't, if you're selling boxed products, but...)

> Question: Do your grandparents, children or basic business users need or
> care about DevTools and / or source? The answer is NO. Do they care about
> being able to give copies to their friend. Again the answer is NO (except
> for maybe your children).

Ah.  But I'm not a grandparent, child, or basic business user.  So I do
care.  And I think you'll find that many people on LUG-type lists do,
too.

> [RANT]
> In my opinion the Linux community needs to grow up and get with the future
> and not live in the past. The reason Linux will not (in the short term) make
> much dent in the Desktop market is that it is to fractured. Infighting about
> licenses will get linux nowhere.
> [/RANT]

<rant type="meta">Complaints or rants about what "the Linux community"
should do are pretty pointless, too.  They're an amorphous group of
individuals, who have widely varying viewpoints.</rant>

<flame type="grammar">"too fractured", not "to fractured".</flame>

donald




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