The deal on SuSE is this:
- You can download an install disk to perform the package installation
from SuSE's FTP site or an authorized mirror for free. You will get most
of the software, except for commercial packages that they can't give
away. They also offer a "live eval" CD ISO that you can download, burn,
and distribute for free, but can't modify.
- If you want to get official SuSE on CDs, you have to pay for a boxed
package, and the license on that box package is one per system, just like
almost every other piece of software out there that includes non open-
source (read: commercial) product because of the commercial packages
included in the boxed set.
This is similar to another package I remember having where the free
version included OpenOffice while the box-packaged version had Sun
StarOffice and a bucket-load of office templates in place of OpenOffice,
thus requiring the "one license, one computer" scheme for the boxed
package. Corel Linux, and its successor XandrOS, operate in the same way
because there are non-GPL packages included in its distro. You used to be
able to download Corel Linux 1.0 without the commercial software and the
proprietary update service for free (it was the first distro I ever used
before I got hooked on Mandrake on my desktop and now SuSE on the laptop),
but if you wanted the extra software and service/support, you paid for the
box.
When you think about it, almost every Linux distro out there with the
possible exception of Red Hat is still a heck of a lot cheaper than
Windows XP Pro of even MacOS X Panther for practically the same features.
-- Steven W. Buehler | <steven@sanctuaryweb.org> <http://www.sanctuaryweb.org>|<http://renaitre.iuma.com> AOL I/M: StevenBuehlerFL | MSN Msgr: stevenwbuehler@msn.com -- All mail is scanned with SpamBouncer & Norton AntiVirus ALL SPAM IS REPORTED TO THE UPSTREAM ISP.----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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