Terrasoft appears to be taking order for YDL 4.0 now

[Olaf Olson]

Clint,

Succinctly put. I'd also like to add that no one should *EVER* expect 
that they can buy an OS and get free upgrades. Not even the upgrade from 
Windows 3.1 to 3.5 was free! You can buy old revs of Mac OS for really 
cheap, but that's still from someone that is reselling what they bought, 
after discontinuing use of their software (at least, it's supposed to be).

You can't get something for nothing. If that's your dream, please 
continue to dream. I get quite a kick out of sharing questions and 
solutions. I am cheap and haven't paid a monthly fee for TerraSoft 
support, but... I don't need to keep this machine up to earn a living, 
either. The licensed, free use that GPL provides is great. I hope we get 
to continue.

I paid for 3.0.1 and support. I installed directly from the CDs, with no 
special changes, on an Old World Mac. I got help from TerraSoft; they 
replayed the instructions on formatting my drive. I followed them and 
got into the world of Linux.

The only thing that has stopped me from getting 4 now is that my wife is 
forcing me to wait for Christmas. What to get the Geek who likes Macs?

Olaf

Clinton MacDonald wrote:

> Mr. Nix:
>
> Ryan Nix wrote:
>
>> Quite frankly, I feel ripped off by Terasoft and
>> will definitely wait for future free versions.
>> Clinton, if I already paid for Terrasoft's distro,
>> why should I have to pay them again to support it?
>
>
> I know it *feels* like you bought the product, and therefore support 
> should be included, but that is not how Terra Soft does it (or Red Hat 
> or Mandrake...). I feel the same way, but I know I have to fight that 
> feeling. Terra Soft sells two version of YDL 4.0. One version does not 
> include support, and is cheaper. The other version includes support, 
> and is US$30 more expensive:
>
> <http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/store/index.php?submit=ydl&PHPSESSID=63c048d1c14f151108ff608180d69674> 
>
>
> "Available with and without 60-days Installation Support.
>
> "With Installation Support: $89.95 + Shipping
> "No Support: $59.95 + Shipping"
>
> If you went cheap (as most of us did) and did not buy support, then 
> you are supposed to know what you are doing. It's not very nice, but 
> it is how Terra Soft makes its money. You paid money for the product, 
> but support is a separate item. For that matter, if you buy an 
> operating system from Apple or Microsoft, you pay quite a lot more 
> money -- but (limited) support is included. In a way, Terra Soft is 
> doing the consumer a favor by unbundling a "feature" (support) that 
> not everyone needs, and is passing the savings back to the consumer!
>
>> Again, if I've already paid for it (I downloaded
>> YDL 4 as soon as it was out) why couldn't reupload
>> it the day I bought it? As long as all the
>> copyrights are there, the distro is based
>> completely on open source and therefore subject to
>> the GPL where it says I can modify it and
>> redistribute it as I see fit.
>
>
> Quite possibly you can re-upload YDL 4.0 -- or possibly you cannot. 
> That all depends on the exact license you agreed to when you first 
> downloaded or installed YDL 4. Read your license. However, I would not 
> be surprised if you had to agree to observe Terra Soft's embargo in 
> order to download the software. As long as Terra Soft is following the 
> GPL or whatever licenses are involved in its version of Linux for 
> Power PC, then you are bound by whatever agreements you made with 
> Terra Soft.
>
> At first it seemed quite strange to me that Free Software "anarchists" 
> (my term, not theirs) were so vehement in  their support of licensing, 
> even of the Free or Open Source types. But then it occurred to me that 
> strict adherence to the licenses is what separates them from pirates, 
> thieves, and "old school oligarchists" of the type you rail against. 
> It is only due to the almost fanatical devotion to the Pope -- uh, I 
> mean, the GPL :-) -- that is going to save Linux from the evil and 
> depraved lawyers at SCO. In the long run, the licenses, though they 
> seem restrictive, have been the secret to "free" software.
>
> Best wishes,
> Clint
>