Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on April 29, 2005 05:41 AM
Hi, I've been a member of the Mandrake/Mandriva "club" for several years, and will attempt to clarify their relationship to the GPL. I'm not a Mandriva employee or spokesperson, so please remember that it's not THEIR fault if my understandings aren't exactly correct.
WarPengi is partly correct, but *mostly* wrong in the parent post. Mandriva is happy to provide the *SOURCE CODE*, per GPL requirements, for all of their GPL software at a "nominal cost". The GPL *DOES* require that you provide the Source Code for your software at no more than a nominal charge for copying to the media and sending it to you. (Mandriva's charge for Source Code is ZERO, if you download.)
But the GPL does not require anyone to provide you with compiled or packaged binary software, it requires only that modifiers who distribute GPL software provide you with their Source Code (at nominal cost). Mandriva is being very generous in providing an actual 'download' distro at no charge.
Note also, that the version being reviewed here is a COMMERCIAL ("PowerPack") version-- the ATI video drivers, for example, are not covered by the GPL. So, if you want video acceleration and you're not comfortable with installing the ATI kernel modules and configuring Xorg, you might want to pay them and help support their work (Mandriva creates lots of excellent GPL software at their expense, providing it back to all of us exactly as the GPL intends).
If you want just the drivers, a "standard" club membership gives you access for $66 per year (which will typically include 2 distros, the Fall "Official" and the Spring "Limited Edition"). You get the "free" distro a few weeks earlier than the public, plus an extra CD for the proprietary drivers and plugins.
Or, you can buy a Commercial ("PowerPack" or "PowerPack+") version of each Distro you want ($60+ each). These include proprietary Apps, as well as the Drivers. Or, become a "Silver" member for $132 per year and get one or both of the "PowerPack" versions (Limited Edition in the Spring, Official in the Fall) depending on how the schedule works out. If you join for multiple years, you'll average about 2 distros per year, assuming the schedule continues to fit Mandriva's announced intentions.
You can also consider a "Gold" membership to get the "PowerPack+" versions.
You obviously get more for your $$ with a membership, and a much larger portion of this money goes directly to supporting Mandriva Developers (it avoids the inventory and assembly costs of creating sets of retail packaging).
This post brought to you by a PC running Mandriva Linux Limited Edition 2005, with ATI Video Drivers provided by the Club. I'm loving this distro!
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Posted by: Anonymous Coward on April 29, 2005 05:41 AMWarPengi is partly correct, but *mostly* wrong in the parent post. Mandriva is happy to provide the *SOURCE CODE*, per GPL requirements, for all of their GPL software at a "nominal cost". The GPL *DOES* require that you provide the Source Code for your software at no more than a nominal charge for copying to the media and sending it to you. (Mandriva's charge for Source Code is ZERO, if you download.)
But the GPL does not require anyone to provide you with compiled or packaged binary software, it requires only that modifiers who distribute GPL software provide you with their Source Code (at nominal cost). Mandriva is being very generous in providing an actual 'download' distro at no charge.
Note also, that the version being reviewed here is a COMMERCIAL ("PowerPack") version-- the ATI video drivers, for example, are not covered by the GPL. So, if you want video acceleration and you're not comfortable with installing the ATI kernel modules and configuring Xorg, you might want to pay them and help support their work (Mandriva creates lots of excellent GPL software at their expense, providing it back to all of us exactly as the GPL intends).
If you want just the drivers, a "standard" club membership gives you access for $66 per year (which will typically include 2 distros, the Fall "Official" and the Spring "Limited Edition"). You get the "free" distro a few weeks earlier than the public, plus an extra CD for the proprietary drivers and plugins.
Or, you can buy a Commercial ("PowerPack" or "PowerPack+") version of each Distro you want ($60+ each). These include proprietary Apps, as well as the Drivers. Or, become a "Silver" member for $132 per year and get one or both of the "PowerPack" versions (Limited Edition in the Spring, Official in the Fall) depending on how the schedule works out. If you join for multiple years, you'll average about 2 distros per year, assuming the schedule continues to fit Mandriva's announced intentions.
You can also consider a "Gold" membership to get the "PowerPack+" versions.
You obviously get more for your $$ with a membership, and a much larger portion of this money goes directly to supporting Mandriva Developers (it avoids the inventory and assembly costs of creating sets of retail packaging).
This post brought to you by a PC running Mandriva Linux Limited Edition 2005, with ATI Video Drivers provided by the Club. I'm loving this distro!
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