AL as Product Base

soloport · 2005-04-11 16:40:13

Ok, I've already asked one, shall we say, user-friendly forum guru this question (through a PM) and that was encouraging. So now I'm going to step further from my center of comfort and ask on this forum, for all to flame! 8)

I want to use AL as a product base. This means we will not just use AL for operations (we already do that), but AL will be part of a product we ship to our clients.

The question is: Is this ok? i.e. Are there any legal issues which might encumber? I don't want to [piss off | take advantage of | otherwise diss] anyone -- or do anything evil.

AL is *the* best distro I've encountered and we would like it to become the base of our product. We had considered Linux From Scratch. But, geez! We'd only be reinventing the wheel, going that route.

Any objections? apeiro? Are you ok with this?

Thanks in advance for all your replies.

P.S. Facts about the product, etc.:
* It's headless (no GUI issues)
* It requires only the base install (well, emacs is nice to have, too, etc.)
* Our "value added" software would go on top of base (is also OSS)
* We will setup a local repository for assembly process (FTP over 100B-T is faster, too)
* We may setup a mirror and publish to it -- only after extra testing for stability -- from which our clients will obtain updates
* We could ship AL source code with the product, if that meets requirements -- but clients are not even remotely software savy
* We have NO TIME, so contributions back to AL will be monetary only (e.g. per box shipped)
* In a couple of years we may be able to contribute in other ways, as well

cactus · 2005-04-11 17:17:05

As long as you are GPL complaint, I wouldn't see a problem. As Arch includes some non-free software (Java), you should take care redistributing it fee based. I would strip out the software with questionable legality first.
Barring that, I would again say, as long as you are GPL conformant, you should be fine.

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

Duke · 2005-04-11 19:04:33

Java isn't in the base install, so that shouldn't be a problem for you.

phrakture · 2005-04-11 19:13:57

Yeah, I doubt anything you'd be distributing would be non-free, as you said it was headless...

Some non-free apps: java, alot of video codecs, a majority of video players, MS ttf fonts, and technically firefox (though Arch has official branding).

Beyond the base install, what packages would be installed?

soloport · 2005-04-11 20:21:10

AL packages:
* Kernel
* GNU tools (e.g. gcc)
* Samba
* Apache
* PHP
* Postgres
* OpenSSL
* OpenLDAP
* Bind named
* ISC dhcpd
Etc.

We add:
* Web interface (strict W3C)
* VPN sauce
* Remote backups sauce
* loop-AES sauce

(100% OSS)

Dusty · 2005-04-11 20:21:22

Feel free to donate a penny from each sale to AL... :-D

Its nice to see Arch being promoted for such use!
Dusty

phrakture · 2005-04-11 20:27:13

Yeah, looks like you're fine... I see no problems there! Have at it.

I'm with Dusty on this, it's great to see something like this... haroo for Arch!

soloport · 2005-04-11 20:48:17

Dusty wrote:

Feel free to donate a penny from each sale to AL... :-D

Wo! We're not that cheap! No commitments, here, but we were thinking more along the lines of 1% of sales, or something substantial*. Arch is worth more than that to us*. We'll have to see how business does*.

*All statements, derived, implied or amended do not constitute a contractual agreement and do not represent a commitment whatsoever on the part of the poster, his dependents, heirs or beneficiaries, his assets, in part or in whole, whether or not said poster has undergone a brethalizer test, spoken in jest or is otherwise under the influence of medication, either of the over-the-counter, perscription, legal or illegal types or otherwise injested, injected, absorbed or otherwise administered, whether or not in accordance with local laws or any applicable law.

:shock:

Attorneys really take the joy out of some things...

phrakture · 2005-04-11 20:52:52

soloport wrote:

All statements, derived, implied or amended do not constitute a contractual agreement and do not represent a commitment whatsoever on the part of the poster, his dependents, heirs or beneficiaries, his assets, in part or in whole, whether or not said poster has undergone a brethalizer test, spoken in jest or is otherwise under the influence of medication, either of the over-the-counter, perscription, legal or illegal types or otherwise injested, injected, absorbed or otherwise administered, whether or not in accordance with local laws or any applicable law.

:shock: :shock:
I want that tatooed on my back...

soloport · 2005-04-11 20:59:28

phrakture wrote:

:shock: :shock:
I want that tatooed on my back...

Well, you wouldn't be the first. My attorney has already tatooed it on my forehead.

apeiro · 2005-04-12 01:46:52

I'm happy to see Arch being used in other products. And if you can kick a little back to us, all the better.

Very best of luck to you!

Arch Linux

#1 2005-04-11 16:40:13

AL as Product Base

#2 2005-04-11 17:17:05

Re: AL as Product Base

#3 2005-04-11 19:04:33

Re: AL as Product Base

#4 2005-04-11 19:13:57

Re: AL as Product Base

#5 2005-04-11 20:21:10

Re: AL as Product Base

#6 2005-04-11 20:21:22

Re: AL as Product Base

#7 2005-04-11 20:27:13

Re: AL as Product Base

#8 2005-04-11 20:48:17

Re: AL as Product Base

#9 2005-04-11 20:52:52

Re: AL as Product Base

#10 2005-04-11 20:59:28

Re: AL as Product Base

#11 2005-04-12 01:46:52

Re: AL as Product Base

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