Re: [SLUG] School Project - Update - (RED HAT FANS...PLEASE READ THIS!!!!)

From: Seth Hollen (seth@hollen.org)
Date: Sun Jun 16 2002 - 12:11:51 EDT


I have been following this with lots of interest.
one question to everyone... from what I am reading it sounds as if I
build a box and buy a copy of RETAIL REDHAT 7.3, say from bestbuy, and
install it, THEN sell it, I am breaking the law.
is this correct?

Seth
seth@hollen.org

On Sun, 2002-06-16 at 02:34, Paul M Foster wrote:
    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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