Is it legal/okay to sell Ubuntu/Linux CDs you got for free?

[alienexplorers]

Why not sell them for the cost of the disk and postage plus a dollar for you work. That seems fair to me.

[bumanie]

Yes it is legal to sell ubuntu OS to pay for time/materials/postage etc. - but not the OS itself. Higher charges by the seller can sometimes be that they offer an aftermarket support service, much canonical does. I guess the sellers don't tell the customer about ubuntu forums!

[Absolute-Zero]

Okay, hey you can even start your business now i guess

[aysiu]

Yes, you can sell it.

[Absolute-Zero]

Oh my god, how come my post made 11 000 views wow

[aysiu]

Oh my god, how come my post made 11 000 views wow
It's merged with another thread on the same topic.

[Frak]

Again, because the OP may not know this:

As I remember, it is ILLEGAL to sell the Ubuntu CD's that Canonical sent to you free of charge. I was told this some year ago by a Canonical rep over email. I don't know if it still holds true, but I certainly wouldn't take a chance.

[HermanAB]

The disks are a gift and the first sale doctrine applies. Therefore you absolutely may sell the disks. It is perfectly legal to sell them for whatever price you can negotiate.

However, I suggest that you give the buyer a 50% discount over your purchase price - fair is fair - so $0/2 should do it.

[bodselecta]

I was looking through amazon for a book and a banner displayed a site called thelinuxshop.co.uk selling ubuntu on cd.
Can ubuntu be sold like this? Seems odd when its gnu....

[acelin]

Yes it can be...

[Sealbhach]

Yes, sometimes I buy from them. Sometimes I can't be bothered to burn an ISO.


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[dje]

Yes, sometimes I buy from them. Sometimes I can't be bothered to burn an ISO.


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you know you can get them sent free from canonical at http://shipit.ubuntu.com ;)

[RiceMonster]

The GPL allows it to be sold by a third party.

[wrtpeeps]

THe canonical FREE one is actually REALLY slow.

So by paying I am assuming you'll get quicker delivery.

[Sealbhach]

you know you can get them sent free from canonical at http://shipit.ubuntu.com ;)

Yes, I know but it takes like 4 weeks or something.

For the sake of $7 or $8 it's handy to have a good CD within a day or two.


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[dje]

THe canonical FREE one is actually REALLY slow.

So by paying I am assuming you'll get quicker delivery.

true true but personally id rather wait (or just download it) :)

[bodselecta]

The GPL allows it to be sold by a third party.

but why?

I didn't see anything about support or any extras. I suppose if you can sell something then people will?

[wrtpeeps]

but why?

I didn't see anything about support or any extras. I suppose if you can sell something then people will?

As I said, it's probably cause you'll get it faster than if you got it from canonical.

[NovaAesa]

Also it's nice to have a pretty CD rather than one with "Ubuntu" written on there with texta. The CD artwork from Canonical is pretty boring.

[original_jamingrit]

Ubuntu's intended on being available for free for everyone. So if you buy a disc from Canonical or another company, someone else who isn't able to buy one can get a free disc that much sooner. Plus, buying it shows your support for Ubuntu.

[Sealbhach]

Ubuntu's intended on being available for free for everyone. So if you buy a disc from Canonical or another company, someone else who isn't able to buy one can get a free disc that much sooner. Plus, buying it shows your support for Ubuntu.

The disk from Canonical is sent free of charge, but takes about 4 weeks.

Yes, I like a CD with decent artwork, not some scribble, and I'm supporting Open Source enterprises as well.


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[wrtpeeps]

The disk from Canonical is sent free of charge, but takes about 4 weeks.

Yes, I like a CD with decent artwork, not some scribble, and I'm supporting Open Source enterprises as well.


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Takes about 4 weeks if you're lucky :lolflag:

[speedwell68]

Why not just download it? Having it packaged and posted is bad for the environment. Who cares that a distro disc just has a hand written label, it is the contents of the disc that are important, not the pretty packaging. Last time I had to pay for an OS on CD, it all ended in a big blue screen.:D

[lisati]

One of the shops in my area sells copies of Ubuntu. Their web site points to wwww.ubuntu.com for support

One link can be found here (http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/48715c26000ad73a273fc0a87f3b0682/Product/View/XC4146)

[Fingers & Thumbs]

I've seen ubuntu disks for sale at computer fairs, online and in some computer shops. But I wonder, should retailers be obliged to make a donation/payment?

[wrtpeeps]

I've seen ubuntu disks for sale at computer fairs, online and in some computer shops. But I wonder, should retailers be obliged to make a donation/payment?

you mean like a license to sell it? :lolflag:

[tubasoldier]

This topic pops up so often. Someone fairly new to Ubuntu or open source get all worried about people selling it. Because Linux is licensed under the GPL you can sell it. You can change it and you can recompile it. The only thing you have to do is make the source code available. Thats it.

Its not unethical, its not stealing, its not dishonest in any way.
In all reality if you are looking to donate to make Linux better then it is best to donate to your favorite applications instead of a specific distro, imo.

[Sealbhach]

Why not just download it? Having it packaged and posted is bad for the environment.

Some people would argue that running computers is bad for the environment. Where will this madness end?:)


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[Frak]

but why?

I didn't see anything about support or any extras. I suppose if you can sell something then people will?
Faster delivery and media handling. I can charge you $1,000,000 for that if I wanted to, and it would be legal. Canonical couldn't do anything about it.

[SirThom]

People will make a buck where they can.

Also, <3 Bush.

I tried selling gmail invites back when it was invite only (is it still?), but I hopped on the bandwagon about a month too late (the market was flooded by then).
I would never sell free ubuntu CDs though.

[Frak]

I tried selling gmail invites back when it was invite only (is it still?), but I hopped on the bandwagon about a month too late (the market was flooded by then).
I would never sell free ubuntu CDs though.
Free signup, I think they got rid of the cell-phone signup too.

[barbedsaber]

legal, yeah, OK, no.

I will kill your family if you consider this, if you do, please PM their address.


(kidding)

[trevelyan]

anyone know where i can download the wallpaper they used? the blue one, thats the listing's image (it looks like a neuron to me..)

[pmlxuser]

Ubuntu give you the freedom of what to do with the system, the medium and everything.

Sharing is the spirit of ubuntu.
Selling is the spirit of Human beings.
But Ubuntu is for human beings

Therefore we can conclude that humans can sell Ubuntu and Ubuntu wont complain..Ha! Ha! Ha!..