I will keep this as short and factual as possible. Most people will be aware that Red Hat is tightening up on its trademarks and part of this involves making making life difficult for independent CD vendors. In about April the Aussie vendors were hit by a "request" that all trademarks, including names and metatags be removed from their websites. It is now New Zealand's turn and Copyleft and one other vendor I know of have received a similar "request". http://www.redhat.com/about/corporate/trademark/guidelines/page4.html Please note carefully. This has nothing to do with copyright, so the software can be copied. It is all about trademarks and the forbidding the use of these trademarks.
As a result Copyleft, like many other vendors, has done a name change for the distribution, in my case to Ingoakore Linux. Ingoakore translates as No Name. I was aware that Red Hat's policy, but like most vendors I suspect, I hoped I would not be noticed. But there is worse to come for us vendors. http://www.redhat.com/about/corporate/trademark/guidelines/page6.html Please look carefully at D and the note. I took a quick look at how all the trademarks could be removed from the installation process and the installed system. It would be a very complex and time consuming business. Something I would not want to tackle. There is a drop-in 100% compatible RH replacement, asplinux, but its installation is horrible. However, it is not bad news for some. http://www.redhat.com/about/corporate/trademark/guidelines/page9.html So you can still download images and burn them for an installfest. ftp sites have to be authorised. Personal Comments. Naturally I don't like it. I can't fight. The legal costs would probably be greater than Copyleft's annual turnover. I suspect that this is the first stage in RH becoming "buy only" distribution. Taking full control of trademarks and distribution is a logical first step. The present trademark pages could well change to become more restrictive. Red Hat is moving big time into the corporate world and I think that it wants to shed the geek/hobbyist image as part of this move, suits and all that go with them. If any distro is going to move into corporate America then RH is the one to do it. IMHO, this would be a good thing long term. Red Hat has made major contributions to Free Software and I can see no reason why this would stop. I would suggest that people consider carefully the distributions they use and recommend to others. A large Commercial organisation which wants to feel secure and is prepared to buy support or employ RH certified personnel could well prefer RH. Providers of specialised hardware (IBM?) who want an os and apps adapted to their purposes and a wide-spread support network even more so. But for us geeks, hobbyists, SOHOs and the like may want to move elsewhere. Phil. -- Philip Charles; 39a Paterson Street, Abbotsford, Dunedin, New Zealand +64 3 488 2818 Fax +64 3 488 2875 Mobile 025 267 9420 [EMAIL PROTECTED] - preferred. [EMAIL PROTECTED] I sell GNU/Linux & GNU/Hurd CDs. See http://www.copyleft.co.nz
