Advanced Server free?

[Matt Hanley]

> So, a more correct statement would be that the RHEL product 
> line is not free, but is available on a subscription fee 
> basis.  However, currently the sources are freely available 
> until RH decides that they won't be as is their right under the GPL.

This comes up now and then and should be in a FAQ somewhere, based on the
number of incorrect responses I see.

RHEL is covered under the GPL.  The GPL covers distributing, copying, and
modifying - but not running.  When you purchase RHEL from Red Hat you are
also agreeing to a second license, namely the Red Hat End User License
Agreement.  This license says that if you *run* RHEL you must pay for - at a
minimum - the RHN.  Unfortunately, you cannot just purchase RHN for ES/AS
(which is extremely convenient for RH).

So that being said, you can give away as many copies as you like and you can
install as many copies as you like - but you can only run the copies you
have paid for.  If you receive a copy of RHEL from someone other then RH,
the RH EULA is not in play.  You can run it, but you won't have
updates/support.

-matt