Hi, I want to ask you is it legal to create my own distribution based on Red Hat/Centos and to sell it under different name? I will make available for everyone to see the source code. Is this against the license agreement? regards Peter -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20110108/94787403/attachment-0003.html>
On Sat, 8 Jan 2011, derleader __ wrote:> To: centos at centos.org > From: derleader __ <derleader at abv.bg> > Subject: [CentOS] Customizing Centos > > Hi, > > > I want to ask you is it legal to create my own > distribution based on Red Hat/Centos and to sell it under > different name? I will make available for everyone to see > the source code. Is this against the license agreement? > > regards > PeterYou can't sell GPL source code as it is protected by the GPL, but you can sell a packaged product that includes GPL sources, like RHEL I suppose. Keith Roberts ----------------------------------------------------------------- Websites: http://www.karsites.net http://www.php-debuggers.net http://www.raised-from-the-dead.org.uk All email addresses are challenge-response protected with TMDA [http://tmda.net] -----------------------------------------------------------------
On Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 8:05 PM, derleader __ <derleader at abv.bg> wrote:> Hi, > ?? I want to ask you is it legal to create my own distribution based on Red > Hat/Centos and to sell it under different name? I will make available for > everyone to see the source code. Is this against the license agreement? > > regards > Peter > > _______________________________________________Yes, you can customize the distro as you see fit. Many projects do this. But, you can't sell it. -- Kind Regards Rudi Ahlers SoftDux Website: http://www.SoftDux.com Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com Office: 087 805 9573 Cell: 082 554 7532
>> Hi,>> I want to ask you is it legal to create my own distribution based on Red >> Hat/Centos and to sell it under different name? I will make available for >> everyone to see the source code. Is this against the license agreement? >> >> regards >> Peter >> >> _______________________________________________ > > > >Yes, you can customize the distro as you see fit. Many projects do >this. But, you can't sell it. I need to use customized Centos to host special software designed and written from me. Is it legal to sell my software with the operating system? regards -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20110108/ee0c15c3/attachment-0003.html>
On Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 8:18 PM, derleader __ <derleader at abv.bg> wrote:>>> Hi, >>> ?? I want to ask you is it legal to create my own distribution based on >>> Red >>> Hat/Centos and to sell it under different name? I will make available for >>> everyone to see the source code. Is this against the license agreement? >>> >>> regards >>> Peter >>> >>> _______________________________________________Well, in that case you sell your software, but since it uses CentOS you include CentOS and give credit where necessary. This will greatly depend on how you licence your own project. Take a look @ other projects which works in a similar manner, especially those which use Apache / MySQL and are paid-for-projects. The easier way around is to sell your software, and provide a link to download CentOS :) If you want to make a customized CentOS ISO for this purpose, then you could also have that ISO on your website for free download. -- Kind Regards Rudi Ahlers SoftDux Website: http://www.SoftDux.com Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com Office: 087 805 9573 Cell: 082 554 7532
>> There's no restriction in the GPL to prevent you from selling things. You just>> just can't prohibit the buyer/recipient from redistributing it under the GPL >> terms and you have to make source available. Some of the other licenses are >> different, but none prevent redistribution and none that I know of have terms >> that would prevent that redistribution being a sale. >> > >Copyrighted artwork would have to be changed. > >...snip >You may not use the CentOS logos to distribute ISOs that have been modified. >snap... > >http://www.centos.org/modules/smartfaq/faq.php?faqid=49 > >-- >B > est Regards, Markus Falb > Ok thank you everyone. I have a second question. My business strategy will be based like Red Hat on selling support and updates to clients. The most comfortable way for the users will be only to install the made software on empty server and to start using it. To do this I need a way to let the client to enter serial key before installation like Red Hat does. Is tis source code available on Internet? Where I can find information how to make this on Centos? Regards Peter -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20110108/ef2840e2/attachment-0002.html>
On 1/8/11 1:09 PM, derleader __ wrote:> > > Ok thank you everyone. I have a second question. > > My business strategy will be based like Red Hat on selling support and updates > to clients. > The most comfortable way for the users will be only to install the made software > on empty server and to start using it. To do this I need a way to let the client > to enter serial key before installation like Red Hat does. Is tis source code > available on Internet? Where I can find information how to make this on Centos? >Centos uses yum instead of RHN for updates, so you'll probably need something different for this. You might look at whatever ClearOS is doing - they have both free updates and a paid subscription support model - with mostly-Centos packages under the covers. Earlier versions imposed some limits on use in the free version but now I think the subscription is more about extra service-related features. -- Les Mikesell lesmikesell at gmail.com
On Saturday, January 08, 2011 01:09:59 pm Keith Roberts wrote:> You can't sell GPL source code as it is protected by the > GPL, but you can sell a packaged product that includes GPL > sources, like RHEL I suppose.Sure you can sell GPL sources; you just can't prevent the buyer from giving copies of them away. See http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney and subsequent FAQ entries following that. As an interesting aside, I know one software package that is currently not under the GPL, but the developer will sell a GPLed copy of the source for a very large fee.
On 01/08/2011 01:18 PM, derleader __ wrote:>>> Hi, >>> I want to ask you is it legal to create my own distribution based > on Red >>> Hat/Centos and to sell it under different name? I will make available for >>> everyone to see the source code. Is this against the license agreement? >>> >>> regards >>> Peter >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >> >> >> >>Yes, you can customize the distro as you see fit. Many projects do >>this. But, you can't sell it. > > I need to use customized Centos to host special software designed and > written from me. Is it legal to sell my software with the operating system? > > regardsA company I contract for does just this. They sell their software and a support license for it. They offer an option to buy a pre-built server with CentOS and their application already installer, or they will provide an ISO for clients to install on their own machines. In the end, you are selling your program, not the operating system. To clarify; GPL allows for the software being sold for money. The trick is that the source code *must* also be made available for free. So, any modifications you make to GPL'ed software must in turn be re-released under the terms of the GPL. You do not need to provide compiled versions, mind you, but the source code itself must be made freely available. Now, if your application is totally yours and contains no GPL'ed (or similarly licensed) code, they you can do whatever you want with it. -- Digimer E-Mail: digimer at alteeve.com AN!Whitepapers: http://alteeve.com Node Assassin: http://nodeassassin.org
On Sat, Jan 08, 2011 at 08:05:19PM +0200, derleader __ wrote:> > I want to ask you is it legal to create my own distribution based on Red Hat/Centos and to sell it under different name? I will make available for everyone to see the source code. Is this against the license agreement?You've gotten good answers thus far, but if you want a real legal opinion, you should consult an attorney in your country. If you're going to be selling licenses for your own software you probably need a lawyer anyway, so simply ask this question along with any others. --keith -- kkeller at wombat.san-francisco.ca.us -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 197 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos/attachments/20110108/19169799/attachment-0002.sig>