Return (Free Software = free software? 1-0)

Return (Free Software = free software? 1-0)

 

What is return?

 

~ A few days ago, I met a recruiter from a company in Chengdu Tianfu Software Park and told me that Linux is open-source and free. Yes!

~ Zhou ligong said in the small auditorium of the democratic building that "Linux is open-source, not free; VxWorks linence only needs one dollar !"

 

The full name of GPL is GNU General Public License. Is free
A software license proposed by the Software Foundation (FSF. A common error is: free
Software is a software without money. This is not true. Here, free refers to freedom rather than money.

Here I need to talk about the core content of GPL and common mistakes:
1.
Free software is also copyrighted. It does not mean that free software has no copyright. For example, if GCC is used, a small amount of modifications are made to it, and the software itself is called an infringement. GPL-based
There are strict regulations on the derivative software (derivatives) and modification (modifications) of GPL software. The modified or derivative software must also be based on GPL.
Release.

2. Free software can also be sold for profit. You are not prohibited from selling GPL.

It may be strange to say that RedHat Linux does not allow others to spread their RedHat Linux? Are they infringing GPL.

The answer is: no.

Please let me explain in detail: first, on the RedHat server, you can find all the source code of the RedHat release, and RedHat allows you to spread those source code. Therefore, RedHat does not violate GPL. In addition, the entire RedHat Linux is based on GPL.

While
RedHat does not allow everyone to disseminate their software. The legal basis is that the RedHat product contains the RedHat trademark. Obviously, this trademark is not derived from any GPL software.
You can use your license to issue this trademark. Naturally, the RedHat license won't allow everyone to release their trademarks at will.
Naturally, it is illegal to spread RedHat Linux at will.

3. Unless the responsibilities of the author himself in writing, the author's own software based on GPL does not need to make any warranty. You shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of these software.

I hope this article will eliminate some misunderstandings about GPL.

Finally, I hope you can understand that Linux is not necessarily free of charge.