[Sheflug] Re: Hypercube Systems

[Barrie Bremner <baz-sheflug [at] xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>>>> "Richard" == Richard Ibbotson <richard [at] sheflug.co.uk> writes:

    Richard> Denis
    >> Not sure how do they call though GNU/Linux or Linux GPL. :)

    Richard> Yes.  One of the problems with RedHat and I think SuSE as
    Richard> well is that free software - as in it costs nowt - has
    Richard> now become pay up or else.  So, it can be very confusing
    Richard> when asking about "free" software.

I'm very surprised that someone hasn't beaten me to this one:

It's Free Software. Free as in speech, not beer.

Yes, in most cases software is also free (in the beer sense).

Just because you're free to do as you please with the software, it
doesn't preclude the fact that someone else may have spent
considerable time tweaking, tuning or integrating the software in some
way, which they may consider is worth charging a fee for.

More to the point, many people/companies may well decide it's worth
paying for the product and support.

Debian aside, most distros are polished affairs which are built by
commercial entities, and are worth paying for, especially when
compared to something like Windows at £100 or more.

Baz.

-- 
Barrie J. Bremner
baz-sheflug [at] barriebremner.com      http://barriebremner.com/


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