Re: Red Hat Linux

["Kendall G. Clark" <kclark@computek.net>]

  On Thu, 13 Nov 1997, claribba wrote:
  
  >Jeff Wasel wrote:
  >
  ><big snip>
  >
  >>Also, I've picked up a copy of Red Hat Linux, and I'm wondering what
  >>productivity apps are availabl.
  >
  ><another big snip>
  >
  >I have just received a new catalog that sells Red Hat Linux for $49.00
  >[approx].  Is it now a proprietary OS that some company owns?  Or is it a
  >version of Linux?  Also OS/2 Warp is going for $219.00, but it's only the
  >second catalog I've seen that offers it.  
  
  No. Red Hat doesn't own Linux. No one can ``own'' Linux because it is
  copy-left software; everyone has the right to do anything they want with it.
  Red Hat puts together a complete package based on the Linux kernel, GNU
  utilities, and other free software.
  
  It is not proprietary. It can never be proprietary. The Linux kernel code is
  copyrighted by about 100 developers from all over the world. The chance that
  any company could ever buy all of their rights to their code is infintesimally
  small. Linus Torvalds, the originator of Linux and its Chief Developer, gave
  away Linux for free by copy-lefting it.
  
  Other companies, including Caldera, whose CEO, Brian Sparks, is speaking at
  the AM conference, also sell Linux distributions.
  
  All of them can be downloaded from the Internet for free. I happen to pay the
  $49 to Red Hat once or twice per year to get the lastest stuff because I hate
  to download 100s of mb of free software when Fedex will bring me a 4 CDs full
  of free software the next day.
  
  Linux will never be proprietary. It can't be.
  
  Best,
  
  	Kendall Clark