Re: The Free Unices (GPL restrictions)

[Ken Manheimer <klm@TETHER.MIT.EDU>]

Warning - this is a digression on a digression, and not meant to fuel any 
flames.

On Wed, 18 Oct 1995, Don Whiteside wrote:

> [Question about relative merits of free unices, and some comments about 
>  legal and usage restrictions...]
>  
> The 4.4-Lite code is very stable, and being maintained. People interested 
> should go look at http://www.freebsd.org and read the 'about' and 
> 'history' bits. It is also resellable (if you choose to build upon it to 
> resistribute), _unlike_ the Linux stuff which is under the GPL.

If the linux GPL is like the GNU General Public License, then that is
neither a correct nor fair representation of it, in a fundamental way. As
i understand it, the GPL allows any amount of resale and redistribution of
the code to which it is applied, but with one very specific restriction -
source code must be provided along with executables.  Am i mistaken - does
the Linux version actually prohibit resale? 

I don't mean to make any claims about the merits or burdens of this policy
- that is a big bag of worms, and probably not an ideal topic for this
mailing list.  However, i don't want people who aren't acquainted with the
situation to get the wrong impression. 

ken manheimer		klm@cnri.reston.va.us		  (703) 620-8990 x259
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