[lug] Re: [CLUE-Talk] Is Mandrake free download still available?

[Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier]

On Wed, 6 Mar 2002, qqq1one @yahoo.com wrote:

> It seems that mandrake-linux.com now makes you register and pay a
> monthly fee for access to mandrake-linux downloads.  There doesn't seem
> to be a way to download anything (including GPL source code) from them
> without paying.  Aren't they violating the GPL by doing this?

It seems to be a common misconception that selling Linux or GPL'ed
products requires you to provide free bandwidth to the world. This
is not the case.

If you had bravely clicked on the "send me to the download page now"
link from their Downloads page, you'd see plenty of mirrors to download
ISOs and RPMs. They also make "cooker" available with source, ISOs
and RPMs. I think that the download page is a little heavy-handed,
but it hardly forces you to pay to download.

There is no requirement in the GPL to provide free downloads, BTW.
They have to distribute source for the cost of physically performing
a source distribution, but they are NOT required to provide free
bandwidth. They can't forbid you from distributing anything of
theirs that's covered by the GPL, but they don't have to foot the
bill for anyone and everyone who wants to download Mandrake.

AFAIK, they do distribute source with their boxed sets and I believe
they're in full compliance with the GPL. They may be lax in providing
a "written offer" but I think that the text of the GPL may count.
IANAL, so I'm not sure how that would be interpreted.

Take care,

Zonker
--
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier -=- jbrockmeier at earthlink.net
http://www.DissociatedPress.net/
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