baud@eedsp.gatech.edu (Kurt Baudendistel) (07/31/89)
What does the ``Free'' in FSF really mean? Well, it does NOT mean that you can't charge people directly for copylefted materials. It also does NOT mean that you are guaranteed reasonable charges for distribution costs. [Before you knee-jerk and flame this statement, read the whole posting and consider the GNU license in detail!] You can develop works derived from copylefted materials, which are thus copylefted as well, and charge customers a fee for getting these materials from you. What you cannot do (and this is where the ``Free'' comes in) is restrict your customers' use of the product. You must give them all of the source for the product (or tell them that you'll send it to them for a fee covering distribution costs) and grant them all distribution rights. Thus, if you are a ``reasonable'' software developer, you can develop copyleft-derived software and sell it at a ``reasonable'' price. You can provide support for this software and charge a ``reasonable'' price for it. And as long as your customer does not include any copylefted material in his product (but only uses the tools that you supply), he has no restrictions placed on his product at all! You can do all of this under the copyleft!?! The trick here is that if the software is not ``reasonably'' priced (and even if it is), you cannot restrict your customers use of the software in any way! They can sell it, give it away, or whatever they like (as as long as their distribution also does not violate the terms of the copyleft). Thus, one meaning of the ``Free'' in FSF is that you are free to write and sell software, and your customers are free to use what they buy in any manner they want to, as long as the copyleft is respected. What else does the ``Free'' in FSF mean? -- Kurt Baudendistel --- GRA Georgia Tech, School of Electrical Engineering, Atlanta, GA 30332 internet: baud@eedsp.gatech.edu uucp: gatech!gt-eedsp!baud