[ILUG] Free Linux? Newbe Q

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Andoni (andonilist at eurokom.ie):

> You say that copies are available from RedHat and Heanet but all I
> find when I follow the directory trees is  SRPM directories. Can you
> please let me know the path to a compiled version of RedHat EL 3.0?

1.  It's possible that some of the couple-of-thousand packages in RHEL
    3.0's several editions have restricted distribution above and beyond
    the commercial-redistribution restrictions on two non-software
    packages (detailed below).  I'd be delighted to license-audit any 
    edition of your choosing to find out for sure:  All you need do is
    pay me my hourly consulting rate, two-hour minimum, and stipulate
    that I am not an attorney; ergo that this is not professional 
    legal advice.  Other than that, I've not so far been able to 
    spot anything that bars non-commercial redistribution of RHEL
    3.0 binary CD images.

2.  Two non-software packages, redhat-logos and anaconda-images are
    copyrighted by Red Hat, Inc. and released under a proprietary copyright 
    licence that conditions the right of non-commercial redistribution
    on observance of the company's posted trademark "policy".
    (The trademark "policy" makes requests of the public for trademark
    observance above and beyond those necessitated by trademark law.)

Thus, to the best of my ability to tell, it would be lawful for me to
post the ISOs of my RHEL binary CDs to my ftp site for public access 
as long as there is no commerce involved (and thus no potential
violation of the redhat-logos and anaconda-images copyright licence).
But that would mean I would be underwriting bandwidth cost for every 
cheapskate in the known universe -- without the legal right to be 
recompensed for it.

I would speculate that that (plus legal caution generally) is why you
will find that RHEL binary images are rarely if ever available on the
public Internet.


Broaching two potentially inflammatory topics in as many weeks risks
getting yourself dropped into the oubliette marked "troll", by the way.
Just so you know.