[Fedora-legal-list] Donations Link

[Tom "spot" Callaway]

Hi Richard, thanks for your email. I'll try to answer as many of your
questions as I can.

On 05/17/2009 10:16 AM, Richard Stitz wrote:

> Does Fedora accept donations, and if so, where can I find a URL to put
> on my site for this?  Also, I will donate a part of every system sale
> ($10 USD) to the distro that the customer chooses to be installed on
> his/her system.

We're looking into whether this is possible or not.

> Can I use the Fedora logo on my website for the purpose of promoting my
> product and linking back to Fedora websites?

The answer here is yes, provided that you follow the Fedora Trademark
guidelines:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal/TrademarkGuidelines#Business_web_sites

> Although I am not charging for Linux directly, one could argue that I
> will profit from each distro offered because it essentially becomes part
> of the product that I am selling for a profit.  Do I need permission
> from Fedora before I can offer Fedora to be pre-installed on my computer
> systems?

You do not need permission, as long as you are in compliance with the
Fedora trademark guidelines
(https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal/TrademarkGuidelines).

> What level of support for the distro do I need to offer?  Can I count on
> the Fedora Forums to offer the support my customers will undoubtedly
> need?

This is up to you. Fedora does not "sell" any levels of support for our
distribution releases. Assistance is provided to Fedora users via a
number of official and unofficial websites:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate

However, none of them guarantee any sort of resolution to issues, so I
am not sure that you can "count" on these mechanisms to resolve all
possible issues that your customers might face.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (an offering from Red Hat) does have varying
levels of support with proper SLAs.

> I am going to need to take advantage of any exposure my company can get,
> so with this in mind, is there any means of advertising on your sites or
> getting mentioned (and linked) here as a provider of Fedora-based
> systems?

We have not traditionally done this, but as far as I know, you are the
first person to ask for something like this. I've raised the issue
internally and will let you know what I find out.

> Can I offer Red Hat Enterprise Linux as well, and what would be the
> benefits to my customers?

You'd need to talk to someone else at Red Hat about that:
http://www.redhat.com/partners/helpdesk/

Once I have answers for the questions I was unable to immediately
answer, I will write you again.

Hope that helps,

Tom Callaway, Fedora Legal