Is linux free 4998

The most popular distribution today is shipped on cd for absolutely no cost, namely Ubuntu. The company behind Ubuntu, Canonical, is funding this. And Ubuntu is always going to be free of charge. Support in form of help with fixing problems costs money also for ubuntu, but support in form of software and security updates is free.

But the main thing to point out is that linux, as in the linux kernel, is free. Linux is not an operating system, it is merely a kernel. Some vendors basing their operating system on the linux kernel are adding proprietary software bits to the open source software and charges for it. The open source licenses also states that you may resell the open source software, but there are special rules about the changes you do to the software. If you make changes to open source software, you have to make these changes publicly available. Free is meant as free to copy, change and redistribute, not as "free of charge".

Actually you are allowed to install and run RedHat without paying for it. What you must pay for is high quality updates to keep your system stable and secure. If you want a RedHat with software updates, you can install CentOS, which is a blueprint of RedHat. They just recompile RedHats source code (because it is free) and distributes it under another name.

-- Rolf Arne Schulze