Shriramana Sharma wrote:
Tuesday 11 Oct 2005 19:31 samaye Berni Elbourn alekhiit:
You may make and distribute unlimited copies of
the Software outside Your organization provided that: 1) You receive
no consideration; and, 2) you do not bundle or combine the Software
with another offering (e.g., software, hardware, or service).
The main question for me as a service provider is to ask if I can
provide downloaded Suse to my customers as part of an installation or
support service?
Can you elucidate this? Do you run a computer service company which answers
support calls and runs out to the customer's site and fixes their problem?
yes.
You wish to convert your customers to SUSE Linux along the way?
yes.
Now I am no lawyer, and certainly not Novell/SUSE's lawyer, but what exactly
would "bundle or combine" mean? In my layperson viewpoint, the second clause
is inserted to avoid a possible loophole in the first clause. The first
clause only says that one must not receive consideration for giving someone a
copy of SUSE Linux. Company XYZ says: "**Free** SUSE Linux along with our
Annual Maintenance Contract". It contends that it is not receiving any
consideration for the SUSE Linux part. But it is using SUSE Linux as a carrot
attached to its AMC to lure customers in. IMHO this is what Novell is trying
to prevent. You must neither sell copies of SUSE Linux for money, nor include
SUSE Linux as a part of any package which you sell for money, **even if** the
SUSE Linux part of the package is advertised as free.
Me neither - I provide IT solutions. But you match my reading too -
which is why I raise the thread.
> So unless we know the exact nature of your service and how SUSE Linux is
> connected with it, we cannot comment further on your situation, I am
afraid.
Forgive me but I have made the issue pretty clear but want to stay away
from specicic cases so everyone in similar boat can benefit. Hopefully
someone from Novell or Suse will reply soon.
Berni
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