Trả lời cho thắc mắc của bồ vnpenguine và bồ NewbieLearnLinux đều có ở trên site của Red Hat. Thứ nhất Red Hat Enterprise Linux có được phát hành bằng GPL hay không, xem ở http://www.redhat.com/licenses/rhel_us_3.html:
1. The Software. Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Applications (the "Software") are either a modular operating system or application consisting of hundreds of software components. The end user license agreement for each component is located in the component's source code. With the exception of certain image files identified in Section 2 below, the license terms for the components permit Client to copy, modify, and redistribute the component, in both source code and binary code forms. This agreement does not limit Client's rights under, or grant Client rights that supersede, the license terms of any particular component.
2. Intellectual Property Rights. The Software and each of its components, including the source code, documentation, appearance, structure and organization are owned by Red Hat and others and are protected under copyright and other laws. Title to the Software and any component, or to any copy, modification, or merged portion shall remain with the aforementioned, subject to the applicable license. The "Red Hat" trademark and the "Shadowman" logo are registered trademarks of Red Hat in the U.S. and other countries. This agreement does not permit Client to distribute the Software using Red Hat's trademarks. Client should read the information found at http://www.redhat.com/en_us/USA/home/company/companyprofile/trademark/ before distributing a copy of the Software, regardless of whether it has been modified. If Client makes a commercial redistribution of the Software, unless a separate agreement with Red Hat is executed or other permission granted, then Client must modify any files identified as "REDHAT-LOGOS" and "anaconda-images" to remove all images containing the "Red Hat" trademark or the "Shadowman" logo. Merely deleting these files may corrupt the Software.
Về cái trademark của Red Hat, Red Hat cũng như bao công ti khác, chỉ lo ngại khi bồ sử dụng trademark của họ cho mục đích thương mại, còn khi dùng cho not-for-profit như trong trường hợp này, Red Hat Trademark Guidelines có đoạn:
If you are an educational institution, a not-for-profit
organization, a user group, or an individual affiliated with or
employed by any of those organizations, Red Hat grants you
a trademark license with respect to the RED HAT mark for use
with the non-commercial redistribution of Red Hat®
Enterprise Linux® in the form you electronically downloaded
it from our FTP site or other authorized electronic download
sites or as copied from an original disk from Red Hat or its
authorized distributors (either from the boxed set or delivered
directly to you by Red Hat or an authorized distributor).
We consider non-commercial redistribution to be any
distribution for which you charge no more than the cost of
replicating the CD and a reasonable handling fee. If any copies
are to be distributed to individuals outside your organization,
either the label or an accompanying printed document
must indicate that: (a) the distribution is provided without
any warranties (unless you elect to provide those warranties);
and (b) this distribution does not include support (either
technical or developer) services from Red Hat but that such
services may be purchased from Red Hat separately. If you
are making copies available for electronic download from
your site, these same statements must be prominently
displayed prior to any download being initiated. (Authorized
FTP or Electronic Download Sites, please see below.) This
permission is not applicable to Red Hat® Enterprise Linux®
or any Red Hat subscription product.
Tài liệu đó cũng nhiều lần nói đến ý RHEL được phát hành bằng GPL:
At the same time, the combined body of work that constitutes
Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® is a collective work which has been
organized by Red Hat, and Red Hat holds the copyright in that
collective work. Red Hat then permits others to copy, modify
and redistribute the collective work. To grant this permission
Red Hat usually uses the GNU General Public License (“GPL”)
version 2 and Red Hat’s own End User License Agreement.
Although software licensed under the GPL is “open source
software,” Red Hat retains ownership of the copyright in its
collective work. If someone violates the GPL regarding that
collective work, only Red Hat, as the copyright owner and licensor
of that collective work, has legal authority to enforce the GPL
against the violator. Although Red Hat “owns” the collective
work, in licensing it under the GPL, Red Hat grants broad rights
in the collective work to others. Neither the GPL nor Red Hat’s
End User License Agreement grant any right to use Red Hat’s
trademarks in the redistribution of the collective work.
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