[Fsf-india] distributions minus non-free

[Ramakrishnan M]

Vinay Pawar wrote:
>  That way we get Mandrake GNU/Linux, RedHat GNU/Linux and 
>  Slackware GNU/Linux. Is it ok to play with their names. 
>  Or will it be wise to call them Unofficial Mandrake GNU/Linux, 
>  Unofficial Slackware GNU/Linux. 
>  Any thoughts ?

No. It is NOT Ok to play with their names. The reason is that if the 
modified product is flimsy (if the repackaged version had broken 
packages etc), then people will blame the brand name rather than the 
company behind it. Recently Redhat had such a case, and they reportedly 
are considering to prohibit such things from happening. May be a 
modified distro can be called by some other name, I don't know. You have 
to look at the fineprint the distributer is writing in their copyright 
notice.

BTW, Debian too has a non-free directory in their archive. But Debian 
doesn't support it officially, though it offers the Bug Tracking System 
and ftp space for those packages. Officially they are unsupported. 
(These non-free stuff includes netscape communicator, acroread etc)

--
Ramakrishnan M