Hi Georg,
On Thu, 28 Jun 2001, Georg C. F. Greve wrote:
If we are to give it a "pure GNU/Linux" stamp, it must contain Free Software only. So every package on the distribution must qualify according to the Free Software definition of the FSF.
This is good. We should also get the distributers to list the four freedoms of free-software on the cover of their boxes. Most people think about software with only 8bits of their mental operating system, so they need information in "sound bytes"! Public insistence on free-software will only come when people think the concept is "so simple it's obvious".
We should get the major GNU/Linux distributers involved. Many of them pay programmers to write important pieces of freesoftware that are being prorietized by Caldera and SuSe. (Think Red Hat Package Managers etc...) They must be pretty pissed off to see somebody taking and not giving back! "The productive cycle" and "The freedom of users" should be key advertising features.
We could also get people whose code is incorporated in Caldera's distribution to write to Caldera saying that in their view, Caldera's use of their code in a proprietary distribution is illegal. Since these authors own the copyright on their GPL'ed software, their letters clarify the intentions of the license. This removes any questions of interpretation of the GPL. All further use of that author's software by Caldera would be indefensible, if we take them to court.
We should also get those authors to publish their letters to Caldera in major newspapers and magazines. This will deter users from buying Caldera, and get news coverage for the principles of Free-Software. (We must emphasise to the press that Caldera is not a Free-Software company. It is a proprietary software company, which is trying to take over other people's work for their own.)
The thing that would kill Caldera would be if Linus Torsvalds were to bar them from using the "Linux" brand name. The catch is, he isn't a free-software person at heart, much more Opensource (judging from his published opinions). We would need to enlist the help of members of the Linux kernel development team, and possibly the OSI to persuade him. Does anybody have contacts who would help here?
Nick Hockings.