Re: Selling CDs...
Thomas Uwe Gruettmueller <sloyment@gmx.net>:
Please note that I am not a lawyer and I am not speaking on behalf of
Debian.
> When I understand the stuff on http://cdimages.debian.org
> correctly, Debian suggests to sell also incomplete sets of the
> official CDs, e.g. only Binary-1. If it is really possible to
> sell Binary-only-CDs, how does it relate to the GPL??? And does
> this rule only apply to the official CDs or also to e.g. a
> developer snapshot of woody?
(1) If you're distributing an official CD and Debian suggested that
you can do this, then you probably don't have to worry: just tell
people that you're acting as an agent for Debian and refer them to
www.debian.org.
(2) For GPL software there seems to be no problem: if you got the
source from Debian it's good enough to tell people that they can get
the source from Debian, too. At least, that's my interpretation. If
you're using Emacs, try C-h C-c and read for yourself:
> 3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
> under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
> Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
...
> c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
> to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is
> allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
> received the program in object code or executable form with such
> an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
(3) Of course, not all the stuff in Binary-1 is GPL. I can't tell
whether there might be something else in there that requires a
distributor of non-official CDs to also distribute source. Perhaps
someone else can answer that question. If not, you could either read
all the licences yourself, or you could just assume that if there were
something nasty in there then someone else would have spotted it by
now, which may sound stupid, but it's what people do all the time in
practice (like I just signed a contract to buy a house without reading
it, because it's a standard contract and it's unlikely I could find
anyone willing to sell me a house under any other terms, so why should
I waste my time reading it).
Edmund
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