On Sat, Jun 15, 2002 at 08:03:26PM -0400, David Meyer wrote:
<snip>
> The biggest change is that we are going to switch to SuSE 8.0 for this
> project. Red Hat called me on Friday and used words like "Copyright" and
> "Lawsuit" in the same sentence (not how I really want to start my weekend).
> They want nothing to do with partnerships, and told me that if my company
> sells a computer or server, and I put Red Hat (boxed version or downloaded)
> on it, even if the customer SPECIFICALLY asks me to, and even if I don't
> charge them a dime for it, I am breaking the law.
<snip>
So if you install Red Hat on a box you sell to a customer, RH thinks
you're breaking the law. So that means that the only way to sell RH is
for a customer to buy a version and install it themselves?
I know at least one person on this list who routinely does this, and is
likewise heavily on Red Hat development lines. And I know they're not
hassled.
Another question is why Red Hat would call you. How do they know you
exist? How do they know what your plans are? How would they know how to
get hold of you? You realize, of course, that you could simply go to
CheapBytes and order up as many "Pink Tie" (Red Hat, but without the
name) as you like for a few bucks a piece? So far as I know (IANAL), Red
Hat would have nothing to say about this.
One of four things is true here. 1) You're lying or otherwise
misrepresenting the call. This isn't an accusation at all, so don't
take it that way. It's simply a statement of possibility. 2) Red Hat
somehow managed to get an idiot on the phone with you who doesn't really
know what they're talking about. 3) Red Hat or this person completely
misunderstood what you're trying to do, and somehow in the course of a
45 minute conversation, it never got cleared up. 4) Red Hat has indeed
gone off the deep end.
As active members of the Open Source community, such an event as this,
if represented accurately, is of grave concern to us. So it would assist
us materially if you could supply the exact name(s) and phone number(s)
of persons you talked to.
Paul
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