Re: Would it be legal?
On Sun, Dec 23, 2007 at 05:51:52PM +0100, Joakim Olsson wrote:
> Hey! Would it be legal if I made a distro based on Debian which uses
> the same repositories and then release it to the public?
Can't see any reason why not. That's part of the point of free
software.
The main reasons not to do so would be practical: your distro would be
dependent on repos (and hence software) over which you had little or
no control. Query whether what you'd have would be a distro in its own
right, or just a customised Debian installation.
Also, it's possible some people would object to the idea of another
distro "freeloading" by using repos that are maintained on behalf of
another distro, rather than setting up its own mirrors.
But I'm pretty sure there are already distros (Mepis?) that use the
Debian repos for additional, non-core software. IIRC, Libranet (a
now-defunct distro that was my introduction to both GNU/Linux and
Debian) followed this approach, with the option of enabling the Debian
repos if you wanted additional software.
John
(TINLA, TINASOTODP)
Reply to: