On Sun, 2004-10-24 at 05:31 -0700, dyzelinis wrote: > Yes, that is exactly to the point! I want my friend company to sell Fedora to > me, and I will get tax refund, and I can share that refund with my friend. Our > law says, that I will get tax refund, when I by new OS software. With Windows, > SUSE and other comercial OS'es everything is fine, because someone sells the > software and I can buy it. > > I want to know is it legal to sell Fedora per se. Can someone sell not only > _the discs_ with Fedora, but the software per se? Are there any restriction > that comes from RedHat? I need to buy Fedora like I buy Windows and I need that > my friend could sell Fedora like he sells Windows. That is the main question. > Is it legal for RedHat? > > By the way, in my coutry average salary per week is $100, so the amount of > money we talk about is rather big :) I think, for purposes of clarification, you have your answer from the sum of other posts. Note that IANAL, but there is published documentation from Red Hat on this specific issue which has to have been blessed by Red Hat's lawyers. As I have interpreted the license, you can "sell" Fedora in very much the same way that Windows is "sold". Note that in both cases, the software itself is *not* sold. You are acquiring a license which gives you the right to use the software with some specific restrictions. In case of Fedora, this is the GPL, which gives you the right to copy, modify and re-distribute the software for a reasonable fee as long as you do so under the GPL, but there are some additional limitations on the Fedora name and logos which are trademarked by Red Hat. Note that specifically, Red Hat has said that if you modify Fedora, you can not call your modified version Fedora and you also can not use the Red Hat trademarked Fedora logos or images. In fact, you can't use any name for your modified version that could confuse the market with Fedora. In addition, if you charge a fee to re-distribute Fedora, you must warranty the media. In other words, if you sell a defective Fedora CD to someone, you must offer a free replacement. See the trademark rules section on the Fedora Site for more. Specifically: http://fedora.redhat.com/about/trademarks/guidelines/page4.html In effect, because you are charging a fee to re-distribute Fedora, the software license the "buyer" receives is a contract between them and Red Hat. You're just the "middle man" making a small profit for your trouble to assist with the transaction. You have the right in this case to charge what the market will bear, and others have already shown what the market is currently bearing in specific places. In the case of Windows, it's the Microsoft proprietary license you are dealing with. Among other things, you generally do not get the right to modify, copy or re-distribute Windows for any practical purpose. Microsoft has implemented technology in their products to prevent copying and distribution, and also has an army of lawyers ready to pounce on you if you violate the license. Hope that helps! Cheers, Chris -- ====================== When the solution is simple, God is answering. -- Albert Einstein
