there is nothing to buy, the owners of GNU/GPL code have already stated there is nothing to BUY, therefore there is nothing to SELL when it comes to the code. again if it involves your service then you can sell that, but you can not sell or buy the code.

CheapBytes is selling a CD with free software on it. IOW, they are selling their copying services, they are not selling software.

But, I'm more concerned that you seem to think that changing lines of code somehow makes the software yours. It doesn't. No matter how many lines of code you change in OSS, it's still OSS. You really need to read the GPL (most common OSS copyright).

OSS means Open Source Software. Generally, OSS software has a copyright to ensure that it remains free and available to all. This means that it's freely available to anyone who wants to copy and use it depending on what the copyright says. There is no buying of software involved.

However, I might sell you a CD with the software on it. But, in that case, you are not buying the software, you are paying me for making a copy.

The following should answer your questions fully: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html

With regards to your original question, Yes, you may charge for your services at whatever price the market will bear, and it is perfectly legal to install Linux in exchange for payment.

but you are paying for the installing service not the linux

You are allowed to sell a Linux CD/DVD for whatever you want to charge (i.e. whatever the market will bear as J.W. said). You can charge this even if you don't install the software and simply sell a copied CD/DVD of it to your neighbor. You can also charge for a Linux CD/DVD download (same rules apply). You can do this even if you change nothing in the software and simply download an Ubuntu .iso and host it on your site. OSS isn't about the fee part of free, it is about making sure the source code is available to whomever wants it. So far, you have received a bunch of WRONG information about selling OSS software. You do NOT have to sell a service. You are perfectly able to sell OSS software, most of the time, EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T WRITE IT. Again, look at the link provided by J.W. You can charge for a service, BUT YOU CAN ALSO CHARGE FOR THE LINUX.

Now, saying all of that, you won't likely stay in business long if you charge for Linux without making some significant reason for picking YOUR Linux. What will cause you to fail is the practical aspect of trying to charge for something that people can get with little effort for free, not the GPL police coming after you for copyright infringement. It's like trying to go door-to-door and sell people air. Sure, you can get some people to buy it (legally), but soon they will realize that they don't need you to breath. Read the GPL (it was written on purpose to be very readable without needing a law degree (i.e. only enough legalese as is absolutely necessary to make it enforceable)), it will answer all of your questions. There are also other licenses, and most of them are easy to read as well. The license of the particular software that you are interested in will determine what you can actually do with the software, but you don't NEED to provide a service to sell it.

HTH

Forrest

Could you point me to the place in J.W's link that says you can sell OSS software? I admit that I only skimmed it, but everything I read was related to charging for things that you do, not for the software, itself.

Second paragraph from the link:

HTH

Forrest

That says "redistribute free software". It says nothing about selling. I know this may seem too pedantic for reality, but you really can not sell OSS software. You don't own it. But, as we have said, that does not prevent you from charging whatever fee you can get for your services.

Various quotes:

So if you are redistributing copies of free software, you might as well charge a substantial fee and make some money. Redistributing free software is a good and legitimate activity; if you do it, you might as well make a profit from it.


Selling a copy of a free program is legitimate, and we encourage it. <snip> we suggest it is better to avoid using the term “selling software” and choose some other wording instead. For example, you could say “distributing free software for a fee”—that is unambiguous.


Except for one special situation, the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) has no requirements about how much you can charge for distributing a copy of free software. You can charge nothing, a penny, a dollar, or a billion dollars. It's up to you, and the marketplace, so don't complain to us if nobody wants to pay a billion dollars for a copy.

Bottom line -- if you want to set up a business where you install Linux on the customer's PC, or provide them with a CD/DVD of a particular distro, or charge them $X/hour for technical consulting, you're free to do so

This is what I, and others, have been trying to get at, all along. “distributing free software for a fee” is not the same thing as selling software.

'we suggest' != 'you have to'

check your dictionary

One definition of "selling" is "To exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent."

If I install a copy of Linux on your PC, and you pay me some amount of money, then we can say we have concluded a sale. Just out of curiosity, when you use the term "selling software", what exactly do you mean?

charging for cds is fine because they cost money
charging to install it is fine because you spent time on it
but charging to download is wrong if you did not write it -- heres why:
* it did not cost you anything to aquire it
* the developers have no benifeit
* the customer is really not getting anything except a bunch of bits being sent thru the network
* its already out there for free

1. morally 'wrong' != legally 'wrong'
2. depends whose network cxn is being used
3. As JW said (more or less), if I come round to your house and download/install on your system because you either can't be bothered or don't understand the tech involved, I can still charge for my time.
4. someone can give me a free DVD of Linux, I can then charge you for it.