Linux on Ebay

[IAM_7154]

I noticed several people selling Linux cds on Ebay. I got kinda pissed, I thought the whole basis of linux was free software/source code. Is it legal to sell a linux distro on ebay? I know its freely distributed but someone still owns the rights....right?

example, If i sell a copy of winxp on ebay, microsoft might have a problem with that. If I burn 20 copies of my mandrake cds can I just go around selling them to anyone stupid enough to buy them??

Im all about weeding out unethical ecommerce whenever I get the chance so any input is appreciated.

 

[intercodes]

IAM_7154,

Actually, yes , its legal to distribute linux. That is what the GNU license is all about. You can freely distrbute/make a copy/release your own version/ modify the code ...whatever damn thing possible can be done. Thats the open source beauty ,and linux attains it .

 

[IAM_7154]

but is it legal to sell someone elses distro for your own profit?

 

[intercodes]

IAM_7154,

Iam not sure about that. When it is available for free, why would anyone buy it? ofcourse there are some dumb people who buy those stuff.... ..

 

[Pavlyk]

Intercodes,

The dumb people that you may be refering to are regular people who have decided to try out Linux. The reason why they would 'buy' Linux, is because they either 1) Have a slow connection (56k) 2) Are completely new to Linux and want to receive some sort of documentation with the product 3) The user is just experimenting with his machine, which is a good thing, because we need to have more people who use Linux istead of evil Windows.

 

[s0me0ne]

Dont forget stickers