They are not restricting GNU/Linux or any other GPLed program, they are restricting only the packages on which they are owners.
So thi license apply to all pieces of software they made to complete the distribution: installer, management tools, ecc..
You can still do whatever the license say for all the free software packages in the distribution, but not with the software made as MandraleSoft.
As this software is needed to proprerly run the distribution it becomes impossible to replicate the distribution as a whole and as consequence install it on different computers.
It's the same thing SuSe (and now UnitedLinux) do with the Yast installer. The distribution becomes unusable/uninstallable without it. So if it's use is limited (and it is), you cannot replicate the distribution. (tough you are always free to take and distribute any package that is free software.
Simo.
On Tue, 2002-12-17 at 14:43, Jan Wildeboer wrote:
Can Mandrake really do this?
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/mnf/license
According to my source
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/anw-17.12.02-000/
they say that owners of the commercial license are not bound by the GNU/GPL anymore. They can change the sources and are not forced to make the sources available.
How is this possible with GNU/Linux?
Jan Wildeboer
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