Linux Is this some sort of prank 16861

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:02:35 +0000, billwg

OSDisc.com was never mentioned.

They don't have to. It would indeed be good practice if they did, but there is *no* requirement to do so, just to make the source code available if redistributing.

I'm sure many of these small vendors do make contributions, either in cash or in other ways.

Oh come off it. A few quid-dollars. And they are not 'preying' on anyone. The people who buy this stuff are looking for a bargain

I can download a distro from the developers - for nothing. I do not pay a penny beyond download charges and none of this money goes to the developers either. Yet Linux distros are still released for download. What does that tell you? That the developers are less concerned with the money aspect than you are.

So, you can tell them what to charge, can you? They burn it, package it, print it, send it, for the convenience of those without fast net connections. You have a problem with that? It seems the developers don't, or they'd be creating hell, wouldn't they? Yet they aren't.

You cannot give away software, without restrictions on its use and then put restrictions on its use, *afterwards*.

Rubbish. What 'excess profits?'

Why are you willfully ignoring the point that I just made? There is a difference between charging a few dollars or pounds and charging hundreds of dollars or pounds for what is pretty much the same thing. Linux distros offer far better value for money that Windows.

These vendors aren't ripping anyone off, they're providing a service.

-- Kier