Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!hp4nl!botter!star.cs.vu.nl!ast
From: ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: I *need* to find 1.3x, please!
Keywords: diffs please!!
Message-ID: <1397@ast.cs.vu.nl>
Date: 14 Sep 88 09:20:18 GMT
References: <2334@sultra.UUCP>
Reply-To: ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum)
Organization: VU Informatica, Amsterdam
Lines: 29

In article <2334@sultra.UUCP> dtynan@sultra.UUCP (Dermot Tynan) writes:
>HELP!!!
> To Mr Tanenbaum; is the C compiler source available, and if so, how much
>does it cost, and where do I send my firstborn???  Also, I'd like to know what
>your stance is in terms of licensing.  I have bona-fide source (I paid money),
>and am wondering is it in the public domain???  If not, how about the object
>code?? 

I have gone through this many times in this space, but for the benefit of
newcomers, here is the story once more.  MINIX is not public domain.  It is
copyrighted by Prentice-Hall.  If you want to license it for a commercial
product, you need to negotiate that with Jim Fegen of P-H, who is quite
willing to discuss any proposal that makes business sense.

You may make copies of the MINIX source and object code for bona-fide
education (e.g., copies for students taking a course on operating systems
at a school or university), and it is ok to make a couple of copies for
personal friends.  It is also ok to post improved versions of individual
programs to the net (preferably as cdif listings where that is shorter).
Other copying or further distribution, source or object is not permitted with
permission from P-H.

The C compiler is somewhat different as the Vrije Universiteit, where I work,
owns that.  The university has two dealers, UniPress in the U.S. and 
Transmediair in Holland.  Their addresses and phone numbers are at the end
of the preface in the book.  No copying of the compiler is permitted at all.
All commercial projects should be referred to one of these companies.

Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)