Sometime Today, Vaibhav Arya assembled some asciibets to say:
If I can duplicate a Linux CD (or install it on as many machines as I like) without restrictions, how do/can/dare the Linux OS vendors charge for their software.
They don't. They charge for support and service. They also charge for the cost of the CD, and the cost of writing to the CD.
- Red hat sells a version (I think 6.22 high availability) for $2000
that is steep. If I can duplicate Linux can I duplicate this one too? If so Can I (hypothetically of course) start a store that sells copies of this Red hat $2000 software for $1000?
Yes you can. You can also duplicate it for $3000 if you want. What you cannot duplicate is the user manual that comes with RedHat. You can offer your own support, but you cannot get RedHat to provide support for your customers.
- Also Caldera (I think its them) just released a 'Single Machine
License' that says you need to have one caldera license per machine.
The licence is not for the linux/GPL'ed software, but for Caldera's add ons. They can charge anything they want for stuff that they have written. They can also charge anything they want for stuff other people have written (the GPL allows this), but they have to release the source code at *no extra charge*.
Understand what this means. Regardless of what the software costs, if the user has purchased the software (at $0 possibly), then he is entitled to the source code at no extra cost.
If the user has not purchased the software, but only wants the source code, he must pay the full price of the software for it.
PS: If you say that some components are not GPl hence the price for the box, can I remove the non-GPL (or more importantly non-'Free')
That is not the entire reason. For example, Yast (from SuSE) is not GPLed, but you can redistribute it with copies of SuSE. You just don't get the source - ever.
components, and then duplicate and sell a slightly crippled box, in my Hypothetical store?
Yes.
Philip