Alle 19:03, lunedì 20 gennaio 2003, Ricardo Rodriguez ha scritto:
Frederick, Fred:
I understand very well the concept of "FREE" software, is just that I have bought some other linux packages before (RD5.1, Su 6.0-7.1) and instead of keep buying software which I only use to learn for a couple of months, I though I could get it as many people use to do it in the old days and see what's new.
You guys, are right, seem like I've been away too long and some things have changed around here, but it wasn't my intention to offend anybody, in which case I apologized for that. Living under a student budget is not easy, and when you realized how the economy is doing now days and how hard it is going to get a good job after school, sometimes you try not to spend extra money.
This is not exact. Linux, referring to the kernel, is still freely downloadable. If you're speaking about the distros, then the answer is 'it depends'. If you want a totally free (the price meaning) distro, you should go with Debian or similar, which is a great distro (no cost for every purpose, great download system even from dialup, ...). If you want Suse, then you have to accept that some software created by SuSE, noticeably Yast, is not opensource, and is bound to a license that prohibits media distribution and duplication, except for non commercial purposes. Suse is a commercial entity, and it is quite obvious they have to find a way to earn money. But it is obvious that Suse it the most difficult distro to obtain at no cost, because you can download just from ftp (ridiculous), and there is no chance to find it in a magazine, for example. So, you have to buy it, or find someone who let you copy the cd for free. Redhat and others are easier and more 'opensource', if this expression could be applied. It is your choice, it depends on your needs. Andrea Negro -- andrea@alessandria.linux.it andrea_negro@it.ibm.com jabber andrea@jabber.linux.it