On Fri 12 Sep 2003 03:25, G�tz Waschk posted as excerpted below: > Am Freitag, 12. September 2003, 03:15:18 Uhr MET, schrieb Duncan: > > On Thu 11 Sep 2003 23:50, Svetoslav Slavtchev posted as excerpted below: > > > i still disslike SuSE, because they use closed installer, > > > and there are no free install CD, and i think i would have > > > similer impression from Mandrake. > > > > If I'm not mistaken, they DO publish source, but it's not GPL > > compatible due to a caveat -- you can make mods and distribute as > > you wish, BUT ONLY FOR FREE AS IN GRATIS, you can't distribute > > versions for which you charge. > > You're absolutely right, that's the licence of yast2 in plain english. > This is the reason that disqualifies SuSE for me and others, as it's > NOT free software, they restrict your freedom too much to make it > usable for stuff like a special purpose distribution.
I guess that's (to me anyway) the difference between "closed" and "free". I would agree it's not "free" (libre), but it's not exactly "closed", either. It's open to look at, even without the non-disclosure license that MS forces on folks taking advantage of their "shared source", but it's not "free" of serious restrictions on use. FWIW, that's one of the reasons I haven't tried SUSE either. I prefer "free as in libre" software, and thus, support Mdk in its policy restricting the d/l version at least, to such software. -- Duncan - List replies preferred. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
