MySQL 4.0.x

[Rodolfo J. Paiz]

At 07:56 5/17/2004, Peter Eddy wrote:
>Mark A. Hoover wrote:
>
>>Given that it's RedHat that seems to have the issue with the licensing, I 
>>personally don't see the problem with complaining to RedHat about it.  I 
>>just checked SuSE's site and they don't seem to have any qualms 
>>whatsoever about providing the 4.x RPMS within their distribution that 
>>last I checked they were also selling commercially.
>
>This is getting really old. RedHat has a clear policy about the type of 
>license required for all software in their distribution. This shouldn't be 
>news to anyone on this list. Their license policy is one of the primary 
>reasons I use RedHat distributions and I'd imagine most people wouldn't 
>want them to change their position.

Indeed this is old. Red Hat is built "exclusively from Free Software", a 
category in which MySQL no longer fits. The decision to change their 
licensing is the responsibility of MySQL AB, and I hope they're happy with 
it. I happen to be extremely happy that Red Hat is loyal to their 
principles and stated policies, and I would not want them to change their 
position.

In the USA, Red Hat could easily get sued into oblivion over a thousand 
tiny idiocies, just like any other company operating in the "land of 
legalese". Sad, really, but true; for regardless of the many wonderful 
things in and about the USA, their legal liability climate is probably the 
worst on Earth.

         1. Bitch at MySQL AB.
         2. Download 4.0x yourself.
         3. Use another database.
         4. Use another distribution.

Those seem to be your options, really... whining at Red Hat for KEEPING 
THEIR WORD and excluding software which does not fit their policies is 
rather pointless. And whining to all of *us*, who frankly could not give a 
damn, is even more pointless.

Good luck with your database problems! Hope you find a good solution.


-- 
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz at simpaticus.com
http://www.simpaticus.com