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Red Hat Trademarks

Red Hat 8.0 is out, and already a few gripes have crossed the LWN mailbox. This latest version has removed support for Intel 80486, as was bound to happen sooner or later. It seems they have also removed the national flag of Taiwan from the KDE 3.0 Control Center. This may well make it easier to do business in mainland China, but it doesn't create good relations in Taiwan.

Then there were rumors that RH 8.0 is not completely free software anymore. We checked into that and found that statement to be false. Red Hat has always included some proprietary software packages in its boxed sets, but the base Red Hat code is still released under the GNU General Public License. Looking at the licensing agreement, we see Red Hat, Inc. trying to protect its trademark. In order to do this the Red Hat agreement asks those making copies for resale to modify files identified as "Redhat-logos" and "anaconda-images" to remove "All use of images containing the "Red Hat" trademark or Red Hat's shadow man logo".

To make this just a tad more difficult the license also says, "Note that mere deletion of those files may corrupt the software." This implies that somewhere in the code there are checks to see that the files still exist. So the files must be edited to remove these trademarked logos. However we note that this only applies to those who wish to resell the distribution without entering into a reseller agreement with Red Hat.

Why would the Linux giant do this? U.S. law takes a "use or lose it" stance to trademarks. If Red Hat does not defend its trademarks they may be lost. So Red Hat is taking steps to more vigorously protect its trademarks. Then consider what happens when a third party modifies Red Hat 8.0 before resale. If a bug is introduced, Red Hat takes the blame. With the trademarks removed, Red Hat is distanced from the bug. Since Red Hat doesn't know what unlicensed resellers are doing with their code, it is better for them if the end user doesn't see the Red Hat logo. The restriction also slows down those that download the distribution and make copies for resale, giving Red Hat a chance a sell a few more copies for itself. This won't result in big sales for Red Hat, but every little bit helps.

All in all, the restriction does not seem terribly onerous. Those who modify Red Hat before resale must edit a couple of extra files. The code itself is free, and Red Hat maintains better control of what goes out under its brand name.

Look for a review of Red Hat 8.0 in the review section below, along with reviews of Libranet 2.7, Mandrake 9.0 and SuSE 8.1 Professional.

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Distribution News

Debian Weekly News for October 8, 2002

This week's DWN covers the Free Standards Group release of Linux Standard Base 1.2 (LSB) and asks, 'is anything missing?' Also read about OpenSSL with CPU optimization; the problematic BitKeeper license; and much more.

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New Distributions

AbulÉdu

AbulÉdu is a Mandrake-based distribution for primary schools. It is currently in French but most of the tools can be translated. An AbulÉdu server can handle Mac (netatalk), Windows (samba), GNU/Linux and X terminal (with LTSP) clients.

Development version 1.0.11 beta 4 features new French-Arabic keyboard support (you can now use some applications such as Mozilla, write with a French keyboard, or press AltGr and write with an Arabic keyboard), some updates, and new features (new mathematical applications and childrens software).

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Minor distribution updates

Aurora SPARC Linux Build 0.42 (Douglas) releases

The Aurora SPARC Linux Project announced Build 0.42 (Douglas). This release is primarily for sparc64, since it fixes a nasty bug that caused disk operations to take 10X as long. As such, the kernel has been reverted to 2.4.18-1.000sparc.

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floppyfw

floppyfw has released 2.0.3 with minor security fixes.

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Linux From Scratch

Linux From Scratch has a new stable release, version 4.0. The list of changes is quite extensive, so please read the changelog for the details.

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Mindi Linux

Mindi Linux has released v0.66 with improved logging. Mindi now works around Debian's eccentricities more effectively and handles DevFS better, too.

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Distribution reviews

Debian on Steroids: Libranet 2.7 (Linux Journal)

The Linux Journal reviews Libranet 2.7. "Libranet offers a straightforward installer, simplified partitioning, automatic detection and configuration of video and sound, system administration tools and a well organized selection of applications, all of which get a generously endowed Debian installation up and running in short order. And since Libranet is fully compatible with Debian, it offers fast and reliable system updates and upgrades."

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Linux Orbit Reviews Libranet GNU/Linux 2.7

Libranet GNU/Linux 2.7 is reviewed by Linux Orbit. "We focused a lot for this review on the desktop aspects of Libranet GNU/Linux 2.7, since the effort to create an easy to use desktop Linux distribution has obviously been considerable. But let's not forget what lies underneath. Libranet 2.7 is based on Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (now officially "stable"), with Libranet enhancements, like the latest stable kernel and more. And if you don't need a desktop system, seasoned Debian users can choose a minimal installation and rely on installing their favorite server software packages via apt."

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Mandrake 9.0 vs. Mandrake 8.2 for new Linux users (Register)

The Register describes a basic Mandrake 9.0 installation and compares ML9.0 to ML8.2 on a ThinkPad T20. "I stick the coaster (CD #1) into the cupholder (CD Drive) and look at the install screen. It's similar to the one I saw in earlier Mandrake versions, with its choice of upgrade, rescue or full install. I choose full install by hitting "Enter." The install begins. Mindlessly, I click on the default choices as I begin, and partitions are created automatically, with my 12 GB hard drive split more or less equally between / and /home (ext3) partitions separated by a 243 MB swap partition. Nothing radical, no work to do, no thought required. It has been a while since partitioning was a concern for new Linux users who chose "commercial" distributions, and this latest Mandrake has made the partitioning process literally invisible unless you choose the "expert" option."

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Mandrake Linux 9.0 distro for Xbox now available (Register)

The Register takes a look at Mandrake 9.0 on the Xbox. "Mandrake was chosen, according to the Project, for purely utilitarian reasons. Red Hat is "quite conservative with its package versions, and we wanted to provide the most modern distribution available." SuSE doesn't have a GPLed distribution download, and "Debian isn't the typical distribution for the end user, and besides, Debian for the Xbox is already available." They also say that of the four, they found Mandrake ran with the least modifications."

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Red Hat 8.0's bid for the simple, easy to use Linux desktop (Register)

The Register reviews the installation of Red Hat 8.0 on an IBM ThinkPad laptop. "Shock number one was it installed without any hassle. No comments here on partitioning and dual booting, as I was happy just vaping the hard drive(which I appeared to have vaped already for some reason anyway), and accepting the defaults."

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SuSE 8.1 Professional Review (LinuxLookup)

LinuxLookup.com looks at SuSE 8.1 Professional. "SuSE software has always impressed me by the attention to detail they employ in generating their best-in-class Linux OS. The installation routine is simple and straightforward, the progress bar (lie meter) is generally accurate, and the finished install is relatively painless to configure. This release is no different in those aspects and more improvements have made their way into the finished product as well."

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