[ILUG] SUSE Linux 9.3 Professional Edition licensing survey results

[Rory Browne]

> So we've had a big debate about something which is clarified in the
> license just below the quoted section, you admit to having read that
> section but it appears you choose to ignore it or feel that it does not
> apply?
I feel that it doesn't apply for the purposes of this discussion. I
believe that it refers to other restrictions, such as non-consent to
include Acrobat Reader in a different product apart from SuSE Linux.
I've pointed that out several times.

> 
> Also can I ask why you have not looked at the packages which may be in
> question to see if they have any statements regarding your rights?
You can, and to answer that question I don't have access to SuSE 9.3.
Even then, the standard downloadable versions may not have the same
license as the ones included in SuSE Linux. The only part of SuSE 9.3
I have access to is the EULA.
 
> You cannot copy anything without the rights to do so.   Novells license
> agreement clearly states:
> 
> "Your license rights with respect to individual components accompanied
> by separate license terms are defined by those terms; nothing in this
> Agreement (including, for example, the "Other License Terms and
> Restrictions," below) shall restrict, limit, or otherwise affect any
> rights or obligations You may have, or conditions to which You may be
> subject, under such license terms."
> 
> So are you really suggesting that you would like to sue Novell for their
> agreement if you in turn were sued by, say, Adobe for ditributing
> Acrobat Reader illegally?
I wouldn't like to sue anyone, and I would generally consider that
option to be a last resort, but if after enquiring from Novell about
the right to redistribute SL, and they tell me that it is legal, then
it is reasonable for me(under aforementioned 1980 act), to consider
the sw suitable for redistribution. If not then Novell are liable,
under aforementioned 1980 act, as well as possibly the consumer
information act 1978.