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Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.mel.connect.com.au!news.mira.net.au!vic.news.telstra.net!act.news.telstra.net!psgrain!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.sgi.com!cygnus.com!kithrup.com!sef From: sef@kithrup.com (Sean Eric Fagan) Subject: Re: FreeBSD VS BSDI, INC. Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd. Message-ID: <DxqpE8.Gnp@kithrup.com> References: <51963f$2dr4@news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net> <323A3293.5C66@wsg.net> <51drrm$5s0@typo.org> <51epqb$84b@prometheus.acsu.buffalo.edu> Date: Sat, 14 Sep 1996 20:39:44 GMT Lines: 29 In article <51epqb$84b@prometheus.acsu.buffalo.edu>, >One thing that no one has mentioned so far is warranty. >BSDI is commerical product, and comes with warranty, while FreeBSD, as the >name suggest, is free and comes with NO warranty. Actually, Walnut Creek CD-ROM does give a satisfaction-or-your-money-back warranty with FreeBSD CD-ROMs. That's better than most software companies! >If your system suddenly screws up, corrupts some multi-million dollar >project you might have in your system, you can sue BSDI, >but you can NOT sue FreeBSD. ;-)) This is providing that you have >evidence that BSDI has some real system error that caused the screw up, and >it was not from misuse or abuse on your part. You may think you can, but it's doubtful. The BSDi license, like most software licenses, disavows that the product will work in *any* way, and that you use it at your own risk. (At least, I think it does; it's been a long time since I've read it.) Previously, I'd've said that this didn't matter, but a Federal Circuit Court has recently (June 20, 1996) upheld shrinkwrap licenses as valid contracts, which means that all the terms in it are enforceable. So that means that, buy renting a BSDi license (since the license only grants you the ability to use it at their whim, is non-transferable, etc.), you agree to all of the terms of the license. That is one reason you MIGHT want to use a free UNIX system, rather than one that is commercial, such as BSD/OS or SCO.