From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2006-09-10T10:29:36+09:00
Subject: Re: DRAW 1280, 1024

On Sun, Sep 10, 2006 at 10:15:51AM +0900, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
> Chad Perrin wrote:
> > 
> > It made me think twice.  I now won't ever be part of any GPL binary
> > distribution chain, ever -- which pretty much makes BitTorrent a
> > non-option for me as a means of getting Linux installer images, since
> > BitTorrent's value for that is negated when I'm not allowing uploads to
> > "give back" to the torrent availability.  A distribution I was working
> > on has been canned.  Et cetera.
> 
> I wasn't aware of the BitTorrent interpretation of this FSF policy. Has
> someone actually been asked not to participate in BitTorrent exchange of
> Linux install media by the FSF? I download Quantian, Gentoo, CentOS,
> OpenSuse and occasionally other distro images all the time with BitTorrent.

Nobody associated with BitTorrent distribution of GPL software binaries
has been threatened with a lawsuit or otherwise coerced to cease
participation in BitTorrent exchanges YET, but I don't want to run that
risk personally.  Someone was the first person to get individually sued
by the RIAA -- someone may be the first person to get individually sued
by the FSF.  I'll let it be you.


> 
> Speaking of licensing, a couple of days ago I downloaded OpenSuse 10.1
> and installed it. You ought to read the Novell EULA when you install it
> -- I almost bailed out and probably won't use it, since it was quite a
> bit slower than Gentoo anyhow. :) Oops ... one of the terms of the EULA
> was that I not publish benchmarks. :)

I'm still waiting to see if EULAs are even enforceable -- that hasn't
been settled yet.  In any case, I don't favor SuSE of any flavor, so
that's not much of a concern for me personally.  That doesn't mean I
approve of the EULA approach to things.  Retroactive contractual terms,
particularly when implicitly applied, don't make me happy in the least.

You may notice that I snipped all your rambling to the effect of "Nobody
should want to create a new distro anyway."  There's a good reason for
that: it's not for you to decide what someone else does or does not want
to do, and it is in large part the ability to fork and/or compete as a
lone enthusiast that keeps the FLOSS community vibrant.  All of your
commentary about why one might or might not want to spin off another
distribution is irrelevant to the point at hand, as far as I'm
concerned.

-- 
CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
"The ability to quote is a serviceable
substitute for wit." - W. Somerset Maugham