sell linux preinstalled pc's

[cR[a]I\Ik]

Hi
I was thinking about selling pc's with linux (debian and suse e.g.) preinstalled. Do I need a licence from anybody to do this?

thanks alot

crank

[raz0rblade]

I don't think you do for Debian, but it would nice if donated a little bit back to the project. :)

Not sure about SuSE though.

[bwkaz]

It would be a good idea to talk to the various distros before doing it. I don't believe you need permission before redistributing GPLed software (which is what you'd be doing), as long as you either include the sources or give "equivalent access" to the sources.

You'd have to make sure SuSE applies the GPL to any software that they add to their own distro, though (YaST, etc.). If they don't, you might need their permission to redistribute it, depending on what license they do use.

Asking all distros you plan on providing would definitely be a good idea, though. Just in case there are any gotchas. ;)