[linux-audio-user] License free Linux ??

[Rob]

On Thursday 04 December 2003 15:54, Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> Have you seen what's happening to the audacity project?
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2572777204&
>category=15199
> It's got to the point where they need legal help. The guy is
> making a few false statements like he has community support
> and is giving money back to the developers.

I dunno, it's a tricky thing.  If the guy were selling Audacity 
CD's labeled as such on ebay, people would be calling for him to 
be sued over trademark violations.  The guy sells it under a 
different name and people call for him to be sued under some 
kind of misrepresentation thing.  I think it's obnoxious that he 
doesn't provide any kind of link back to the Audacity site (he 
at least mentions Gimp and Openoffice by name) but until someone 
actually ponies up for one of those CD's we won't know whether 
he's actually violating the GPL.  

Or, for that matter, someone else's license, since he mentions 
he's including other software and files on the disc.  In that 
way it strikes me as being just like all those shovelware 
CD-ROMs in the early 90's that listed off all the shareware they 
included without mentioning them by name.  Only by running the 
programs (and doing help about, if it didn't have a nag screen 
or something) did you ever find out who wrote them.

Anyway, his site, http://www.luxuriousity.com (I'd say that was 
misspelled if it weren't a made-up word to begin with), is 
hilarious, especially the overuse of stock clip art.  I think 
the best response to something like this is to provide a cheaper 
competitive item on ebay whose proceeds really do benefit the 
developers. Maybe start with the GnuWin II disc?  (Note that 
he's marketing it to Windows users primarily, not Linux users, 
so going on ebay with a CD full of Linux software is really not 
going to do anyone any good except in the sense that it might 
promote the use of Linux a little.)

Rob