On Fri, 23 Feb 2018 08:27:56 +0100
Stefan Seyfried
On 22.02.2018 19:00, Liam Proven wrote:
I really want to understand this better, and if I can, help to formulate a clear, concise explanation of the relationship between SUSE and openSUSE. I work at SUSE myself, after all, and nobody explained it to me!
Then please ask your manager for a "mailing lists 101" introduction, so that you can choose the correct list to ask a question next time. Thanks.
Actually, he's been supportive of this.
SLE, the enterprise distro. Slow release cycle, stable, supported, costs money -- traditional software licensing model
NO. NO. NO.
Most of the software in SLE is still GPL. AIUI (I'm not a lawyer), it is basically impossible for SUSE to sell a GPL license to anyone.
You appear to misunderstand the nature of the GPL. https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney « Does the GPL allow me to sell copies of the program for money? (#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney) Yes, the GPL allows everyone to do this. The right to sell copies is part of the definition of free software. Except in one special situation, there is no limit on what price you can charge. (The one exception is the required written offer to provide source code that must accompany binary-only release.) » That leads to: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html « Actually, we encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they wish or can. If a license does not permit users to make copies and sell them, it is a nonfree license. If this seems surprising to you, please read on. » « Distributing free software is an opportunity to raise funds for development. Don't waste it! » Selling the software != selling the licence.
What SUSE sells is service: subscriptions. Access to updated versions. Technical support. Whatever. But not a license.
There is a free-of-charge 60-day _trial_ of SLE. I have a machine running it. https://www.suse.com/products/server/download/ Note, it stops receiving updates after 60 days. It is not time-bombed; it does not stop working, but it does become unsafe to use on the public Internet once it can no longer be updated.
I hate it that I have to explain this at work at least twice a day, but having to explain it to FOSS people really hurts.
Then how come your comments to me appear to be based on an incorrect understanding? It is 100% legal _and explicitly encouraged by the FSF_ to sell GPL software. -- Liam Proven - Technical Writer, SUSE Linux s.r.o. Corso II, Křižíkova 148/34, 186-00 Praha 8 - Karlín, Czechia Email: lproven@suse.com - Office telephone: +420 284 241 084 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org