[Mageia-dev] Mageia repository sections, licenses, restrictions, firmware etc

Fri Oct 15 13:42:58 CEST 2010

2010/10/15 Anssi Hannula <anssi.hannula at iki.fi>:
+>
+> Seems sensible to ask the mirror owners. It is possible some of them have not
+> been aware of the problem at all, so I think we should make sure they
+> understand that Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, etc. also contain patented technologies
+> (to avoid the situation where they are willing to mirror Ubuntu/Debian/Arch
+> but not allow patented software in Mageia, just because the other
+> distributions didn't notify them of the issue; if they don't want to mirror
+> Mageia if it contained patent-encumbered software, they really shouldn't be
+> mirroring those other distributions either).
+
+As mirror maintainer/owner of Mandriva Linux and future Mageia
+(ftp.mandrivauser.de) I discussed this problem with my friends and we
+decided not to mirror PLF although a German university does
+(ftp.gwdg.de). The point is that our mirror is hosted on a private
+server where just one person is liable (me, unfortunately). But we
+also decided to mirror the non-free branch of Mandriva Linux. There is
+non-free and there is patented and/or legally unclear software - we
+will definitely stay away from the latter when mirroring Mageia.
+Making a difference between such software on the parent mirror will
+make it easy for mirrors such as ours. Distributing such software in
+the same branches as "normal" software will make it impossible to
+mirror Mageia.
+
+-- 
+wobo
+