Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!cssisg.dec.com!uban
From: uban@cssisg.dec.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Source is not free
Message-ID: <8902172034.AA29857@decwrl.dec.com>
Date: 17 Feb 89 20:34:55 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 40


In mail posted: 15 Feb 89 21:11:17 GMT,  Steve Cumming	stevec@lccr.cs.sfu.ca	{uunet|...}!ubc-cs!fornax!stevec
writes:
>  
> I plan to buy my Very Own Computer one day soon.
> I want it to be fast, powerful, Unix like - as much 
>	.  .  .
> I also want source code, for several reasons, all of
> which I am sure are familiar to all of us.
> All my own experience at work moves me to insist
> on source. 
>	.  .  .
> Where does this leave me? I am going to wait until the
> FSF has a kernel working.
>  	.  .  .
> And about two years later, if not sooner, some outfit will
> start selling iron that FSF kernels are specially good with.
>	.  .  .

Waiting for FSF to do it will probably be the only way most
individuals can end up with Un*x-ish source on any machine
that they personally own and control.

Mach (I think) and BSD and others are all limbs on the source tree
that roots back to AT&T.  Any group or individual that wants source
to -any- of these must also purchase a source license from AT&T.
This runs a tidy $15K to $40K, depending on discounts, I believe.
Therefore NeXT may not, by law, distribute any source except to
organizations or individuals already licensed.  BSD is the same -
once one has a license, then one can simply ask Berkely for a
source tape, but not before.  Even within organizations, separate
groups must have separate source licenses to work on or even view
the source, it seems.  We find that here at DEC, I've heard, even
though Ultrix is one of our main products.  Universities with source
have purchased the license.  One who works at a university and
buys, say, a SUN, may not copy the university's SUN source to their
personal machine.  This fact will probably never change.

					- Jim
					- uban%cssisg@decwrl.dec.com