About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[CREOtiv]

Hello,

This guys http://www.linux-xp.ru/ selling linux for money. It based on Fedora Core. So
their actions break copyrights and the GPL licence of Fedora Linux.
You must do something.

Best regards,
Andrew

[Rahul Sundaram]

CREOtiv wrote:
>  Hello,
>   
>  This guys http://www.linux-xp.ru/ selling linux for money. It based on 
>  Fedora Core. So their actions break copyrights and the GPL licence of 
>  Fedora Linux.
>  You must do something. 
You seem to be misinterpreting the GPL license. Read the primer. Also refer

http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html

Linux XP as a derivative distribution of Fedora is very well free to 
sell copies of it as long as they satisfy the other requirements of the 
license such as providing the source code.

Rahul

[Arthur Pemberton]

On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 4:19 PM, Rahul Sundaram
<sundaram(a)fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote:
>  CREOtiv wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> >  This guys http://www.linux-xp.ru/ selling linux for money. It based on
> > Fedora Core. So their actions break copyrights and the GPL licence of Fedora
> > Linux.
> > You must do something.
>
>  You seem to be misinterpreting the GPL license. Read the primer. Also refer
>
>  http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney
>  http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html
>
>  Linux XP as a derivative distribution of Fedora is very well free to sell
>  copies of it as long as they satisfy the other requirements of the license
>  such as providing the source code.
>
>  Rahul 

For the curious:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linux-xp.ru%2F&a...

I haven't seen source code nor Fedora yet. But one would have to
purchase a copy to verify.
-- 
Fedora 9 : sulphur is good for the skin
( www.pembo13.com )

[Rahul Sundaram]

Arthur Pemberton wrote:
>  
>  For the curious:
>
> http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linux-xp.ru%2F&a...
>  
>  I haven't seen source code nor Fedora yet. But one would have to
>  purchase a copy to verify. 
There is no need to translate. Refer http://www.linux-xp.com/. I haven't 
looked for source code.

Rahul

[Arthur Pemberton]

On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 4:40 PM, Rahul Sundaram
<sundaram(a)fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote:
>  Arthur Pemberton wrote:
> >
> > For the curious:
> >
> >
> http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linux-xp.ru%2F&a...
> >
> > I haven't seen source code nor Fedora yet. But one would have to
> > purchase a copy to verify.
>
>  There is no need to translate. Refer http://www.linux-xp.com/. I haven't
>  looked for source code.
>
>  Rahul 

Following up: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Linux_XP&oldid=242503592

-- 
Fedora 9 : sulphur is good for the skin
( www.pembo13.com )

[Jon Stanley]

On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 5:40 PM, Rahul Sundaram
<sundaram(a)fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote:

>  There is no need to translate. Refer http://www.linux-xp.com/. I
> haven't
>  looked for source code. 
Interesting.  I tried the "Buy Now" and "Download Now" links on the
English version of the site and got nowhere. I do notice mention that
I have to register in order to use the product beyond a 30-day
evaluation period. I *think* that this may be an issue under GPLv3
section 6, if there is any GPLv3 software in the distro, which cannot
obviously be determined without a copy of it.

[Rahul Sundaram]

Jon Stanley wrote:
>  On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 5:40 PM, Rahul Sundaram
>  <sundaram(a)fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote:
>  
> > There is no need to translate. Refer http://www.linux-xp.com/. I haven't
> > looked for source code.
>  
>  Interesting.  I tried the "Buy Now" and "Download Now" links on the
>  English version of the site and got nowhere. I do notice mention that
>  I have to register in order to use the product beyond a 30-day
>  evaluation period. I *think* that this may be an issue under GPLv3
>  section 6, if there is any GPLv3 software in the distro, which cannot
>  obviously be determined without a copy of it. 
This is a Russian organization. I doubt we want to waste money trying to 
get a hold of this product to hunt down whether the restrictions on the 
end product is evasive of any specific license within. Wikipedia article 
states that they do not respond to email. It doesn't appear to have made 
any new releases and seems to be dead.

Rahul

[Giulio Fidente]

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Rahul Sundaram wrote:
>  Jon Stanley wrote:
> > On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 5:40 PM, Rahul Sundaram
> > <sundaram(a)fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote:
> >
> >> There is no need to translate. Refer http://www.linux-xp.com/. I haven't
> >> looked for source code.
> >
> > Interesting.  I tried the "Buy Now" and "Download Now" links on
> the
> > English version of the site and got nowhere. I do notice mention that
> > I have to register in order to use the product beyond a 30-day
> > evaluation period. I *think* that this may be an issue under GPLv3
> > section 6, if there is any GPLv3 software in the distro, which cannot
> > obviously be determined without a copy of it.
>  
>  This is a Russian organization. I doubt we want to waste money trying to
>  get a hold of this product to hunt down whether the restrictions on the
>  end product is evasive of any specific license within. Wikipedia article
>  states that they do not respond to email. It doesn't appear to have made
>  any new releases and seems to be dead. 
btw it is availabe for download at:

ftp://downloads.linux-xp.com/pub/linux-xp/desktop/2008/international/LXPD...

and or

ftp://downloads.linux-xp.com/pub/linux-xp/desktop/2008/international/LXPD...
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[Rahul Sundaram]

Giulio Fidente wrote:
>  -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>  Hash: SHA1
>  
>  Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> > Jon Stanley wrote:
> >> On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 5:40 PM, Rahul Sundaram
> >> <sundaram(a)fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote:
> >>
> >>> There is no need to translate. Refer http://www.linux-xp.com/. I haven't
> >>> looked for source code.
> >> Interesting.  I tried the "Buy Now" and "Download Now" links
> on the
> >> English version of the site and got nowhere. I do notice mention that
> >> I have to register in order to use the product beyond a 30-day
> >> evaluation period. I *think* that this may be an issue under GPLv3
> >> section 6, if there is any GPLv3 software in the distro, which cannot
> >> obviously be determined without a copy of it.
> > This is a Russian organization. I doubt we want to waste money trying to
> > get a hold of this product to hunt down whether the restrictions on the
> > end product is evasive of any specific license within. Wikipedia article
> > states that they do not respond to email. It doesn't appear to have made
> > any new releases and seems to be dead.
>  
>  btw it is availabe for download at:
>  
>
> ftp://downloads.linux-xp.com/pub/linux-xp/desktop/2008/international/LXPD...
>  
>  and or
>  
>
> ftp://downloads.linux-xp.com/pub/linux-xp/desktop/2008/international/LXPD...
CC'ing fedora-legal list.

Rahul

[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Tom Callaway]

On Wed, 2008-10-15 at 20:03 +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote:

>  CC'ing fedora-legal list. 
Well, that's an awful lot of content without much context. Care to
explain what the legal concern is?

~spot

[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Rahul Sundaram]

Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
>  On Wed, 2008-10-15 at 20:03 +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
>  
> > CC'ing fedora-legal list.
>  
>  Well, that's an awful lot of content without much context. Care to
>  explain what the legal concern is? 
Linux-XP is a Fedora derived distribution and we got a mail to the 
webmaster's id (fedora-websites list) that this distribution is 
violating the GPL license by not distributing source code.

Rahul

[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Giulio Fidente]

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Rahul Sundaram wrote:
>  Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
> > On Wed, 2008-10-15 at 20:03 +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> >
> >> CC'ing fedora-legal list.
> >
> > Well, that's an awful lot of content without much context. Care to
> > explain what the legal concern is?
>  
>  Linux-XP is a Fedora derived distribution and we got a mail to the
>  webmaster's id (fedora-websites list) that this distribution is
>  violating the GPL license by not distributing source code. 
exploring the ftp I found this:

ftp://downloads.linux-xp.com/pub/sources_and_patches/SRPMS/
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[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Tom Callaway]

On Wed, 2008-10-15 at 17:30 +0200, Giulio Fidente wrote:
>  -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>  Hash: SHA1
>  
>  Rahul Sundaram wrote:
>  > Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
>  >> On Wed, 2008-10-15 at 20:03 +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
>  >>
>  >>> CC'ing fedora-legal list.
>  >>
>  >> Well, that's an awful lot of content without much context. Care to
>  >> explain what the legal concern is?
>  > 
>  > Linux-XP is a Fedora derived distribution and we got a mail to the
>  > webmaster's id (fedora-websites list) that this distribution is
>  > violating the GPL license by not distributing source code.
>  
>  exploring the ftp I found this:
>  
>  ftp://downloads.linux-xp.com/pub/sources_and_patches/SRPMS/ 
Looks like they're distributing some source code. Are there specific
areas of concern?

~spot

[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Rahul Sundaram]

Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
>  On Wed, 2008-10-15 at 17:30 +0200, Giulio Fidente wrote:
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA1
> >
> > Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> >> Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
> >>> On Wed, 2008-10-15 at 20:03 +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> CC'ing fedora-legal list.
> >>> Well, that's an awful lot of content without much context. Care to
> >>> explain what the legal concern is?
> >> Linux-XP is a Fedora derived distribution and we got a mail to the
> >> webmaster's id (fedora-websites list) that this distribution is
> >> violating the GPL license by not distributing source code.
> > exploring the ftp I found this:
> >
> > ftp://downloads.linux-xp.com/pub/sources_and_patches/SRPMS/
>  
>  Looks like they're distributing some source code. Are there specific
>  areas of concern? 
We can ask the original poster (CC'ed). The threads starts at

https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-websites-list/2008-October/msg0004...

Rahul

[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Jon Stanley]

On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:46 AM, Tom spot Callaway <tcallawa(a)redhat.com&gt; wrote:

>  Looks like they're distributing some source code. Are there
> specific
>  areas of concern? 
According to the website, the software requires activation and payment
to use it beyond 30 days. My main concern was that this *may* run
afoul of section 6 of GPLv3 if there's any GPLv3 licensed software in
there, but IANAL and that language is sort of murky to me.

Other than that, I'm not sure that there's any real concern. I'm
downloading a copy of the software now to check for de-branding
issues, etc. Will report back with findings.

[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Josh Boyer]

On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 12:49:07PM -0400, Jon Stanley wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:46 AM, Tom spot Callaway
> <tcallawa(a)redhat.com&gt; wrote:
>
> > Looks like they're distributing some source code. Are there specific
> > areas of concern?
>
> According to the website, the software requires activation and payment
> to use it beyond 30 days. My main concern was that this *may* run
> afoul of section 6 of GPLv3 if there's any GPLv3 licensed software in
> there, but IANAL and that language is sort of murky to me. 
And why is that Fedora's concern?  That would be linux-xp's violation,
no?

josh

[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Arthur Pemberton]

On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:51 AM, Josh Boyer <jwboyer(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:
>  On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 12:49:07PM -0400, Jon Stanley wrote:
> >On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:46 AM, Tom spot Callaway <tcallawa(a)redhat.com&gt;
> wrote:
> >
> >> Looks like they're distributing some source code. Are there specific
> >> areas of concern?
> >
> >According to the website, the software requires activation and payment
> >to use it beyond 30 days. My main concern was that this *may* run
> >afoul of section 6 of GPLv3 if there's any GPLv3 licensed software in
> >there, but IANAL and that language is sort of murky to me.
>
>  And why is that Fedora's concern?  That would be linux-xp's violation,
>  no?
>
>  josh 
Basically, a random web user reported that Linux XP was a derivative
of Fedora, was not providing code, thereby violating the GPL.

What you are seeing, is part of a seemingly ongoing, casual attempt to
investigate the report for any validity before it is/was passed on to
legal.

I personally don't think this is a big issue, but just assisted a bit
in the collection of data so that someone who cares and is responsible
can decided wether this warrants a proper investigation.

-- 
Fedora 9 : sulphur is good for the skin
( www.pembo13.com )

[Fedora-legal-list] Re: About breaking GPL license and copyrights on Fedora Core.

[Rahul Sundaram]

Josh Boyer wrote:
>  On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 12:49:07PM -0400, Jon Stanley wrote:
> > On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:46 AM, Tom spot Callaway <tcallawa(a)redhat.com&gt;
> wrote:
> >
> >> Looks like they're distributing some source code. Are there specific
> >> areas of concern?
> > According to the website, the software requires activation and payment
> > to use it beyond 30 days. My main concern was that this *may* run
> > afoul of section 6 of GPLv3 if there's any GPLv3 licensed software in
> > there, but IANAL and that language is sort of murky to me.
>  
>  And why is that Fedora's concern?  That would be linux-xp's violation,
>  no? 
If a derivative distribution is violating the licenses collectively, it 
is also misusing the work done within Fedora. That should make it our 
concern as well, I would think.

Rahul