Re: Samba (was: OS-X vs. Windows)

[Martin Rowe <martin@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 2001-12-20 at 07:21, Brad Jensen wrote:
> > This is talking about the *source*. Charge what you like for
> binary
> > distribution, as long as you make the code available to those
> who have
> > the binaries. How do you think the likes of RedHat can charge
> $60 for
> > their current Linux distribution? Charge for support, value
> added
> > features, etc. Or do things the SuSE way and include some
> non-GPL
> > installer/admin software that directs the proceedings and
> prevents
> > anyone making their own SuSE based distro.
>
> That's an interesting way of looking at it. We've been working on
> a modified version of VNC, to get thru firewalls and do a couple
> of other things. We aren't selling it, because the way we read the
> license all we can do is charge for support.

Hi Brad

Licenses are *interesting* things :) There's still a lot of confusion on
what you can and can't do with GPL software. In particular the tricky
aspect of what combining GPL with non-GPL is valid. See
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation for the
official answer to this. Can you offer a better install mechanism or
easier configuration of VNC[1] to add value to your version?

I'm interested in knowing how this applies to OS/400 programming, wrt
RPG, CL and the like. My understanding (std disclaimer IANAL[2]) is that
a standard command or call from a GPL to non-GPL (say IBM or third
party) or vice versa is okay, but GPL <--> non-GPL bound or procedure
calls would not be. I guess service programs would be fine under the
LGPL, as they seem analogous to the *nix library function.

Regards, Martin
[1] http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/ - a brilliant bit of software if
you've not come across it yet. Get remote acces to Windows desktops or
turn a *nix box into a GUI terminal server for your Windows clients. We
use it on a number of machine at work
[2] I am not a lawyer
--
martin@dbg400.net  jamaro@firstlinux.net  http://www.dbg400.net
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