Hi, if you combine GNU and non-GNU programs on one disk, you would have to make sure that the user is informed about the license of all programs. For the GNU programs, you normally would provide a copy of the license on the disk, possibly zipped, possibly as a self-displaying compressed executable, but my personal opinion is that GNU GPL is so well-known that it would be enough to put only the short GPL disclaimer on the disk, along with a pointer to a place in WWW where you can read the full GPL. If your disk comes with an handbook, you can put GPL there to save disk space, but I assume your disk has no handbook. Next item is the source code: Users of GPL software must be given easy access to the - possibly modified for your disk - sources. It is enough to put a pointer to a place in WWW, preferrably the homepage of your disk, for that. If you only would tell people "sources are somewhere out there", then the access to the sources could get lost when the original homepage becomes unavailable.
Apart from that, combining non-GNU and GNU programs on one disk is no problem - it would only be a problem to modify GNU programs for something and then publish the modified program but refuse to give users access to the source modifications. Some router manufacturers have done that in the past, but usually got convinced to make their patches publicly available or available on a disk which is shipped with the router. Eric ------------------------------------------------------- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595&alloc_id=14396&op=click _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
