Use of software

[Mike Bartman]

At 08:39 AM 4/28/04 -0500, -=Brian Truter=- wrote:
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> 
>> I guess I didn't explain myself clear.......
>> 
>> Is the use of this software for commercial purposes legal?
>> 
>> Example: using it to advertise a small business with  web 
>> pages email, domain,
>
>Of course it's legal. Fedora is a GPL project.

I suspect that the original poster is worried by rumors about the SCO
situation.

I wouldn't worry about that.  First, SCO knows they have no case.  That's
why they've been so hesitant to say exactly which pieces of Linux they are
laying claim to owning.  Now that a few actual claims have been forced out
of them in court, and found to be groundless, they have even less
credibility.  Some of the original authors have stepped forward and offered
to testify that the software SCO is claiming is in the public domain, and
has been for decades.  It wasn't written by SCO to start with, and the
folks who did write it gave it away.

Even with MicroSoft's financial backing, taking on IBM in court is a pretty
non-trivial exercise, even if you do have a good case, and it doesn't
appear that SCO does.  By the time the case gets out of court, most of us
will be running walkers, not computers...unless SCO realizes it's a
pointless exercise and just fold up their tents and blow away.

Let's say that the worst case scenario appears, and SCO does manage to
prove, in court, that some part of Linux is using code that they have legal
title to.  How long do you think it will be before that bit of code is no
longer in Linux?

A bigger threat might be software patents, but I haven't heard any claims
against Linux along those lines, and that would seem to be a bigger problem
for commercial versions of Linux than with Linux itself (i.e. if you are
making money selling it, you might need to look into the patent and
licensing area, but if you are just using it for personal purposes and not
making any money off of the software itself (i.e. not selling Linux), you
probably have nothing to worry about.  It's like a patented light switch
design...if I make one myself and install it in my store to run the lights,
no problem, but if I make lots of them and sell them in my store, I'll need
to make arrangements with the patent holder and pay some royalties.

Note: I am not a lawyer.  I have not read all international treaties on
copyright and patents.  The above is just my current understanding of the
situation.  Anyone who is a lawyer and who has read all international
treaties on copyright and patents who wants to correct me on anything in
the above is welcome, and encouraged, to do so.

-- Mike Bartman