🚀 go-pugleaf

Re: Individuals buying manuals

From: jordan@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU (Jordan M. Hayes)
>See, the problem here is twofold: First, the manuals are licensed
>materials -- you have to show your license to get them.
>...
>Second of all, you don't run 4.3 at all. You don't have a source
>license -- all you have is 4.2 binary.

Is this true? I don't believe it. You need a full set of licenses
qualifying you to own 4.3bsd sources just to buy a printed manual?

In the first place, as John Gilmore points out, you can walk into a
bookstore and buy a SYSV manual (actually, I've only seen V7 manuals,
but surely I don't have to show AT&T a source license to order a few
manuals over their 800 number, do I?)

In the second place, John's 4.2bsd BINARY license comes with the full
manual "sources" on-line. I therefore presume he could print them out
for himself if he were so inclined (surely he could buy a cheap laser
printer, run off a copy and drag them down to his local copy center
for GBC binding and it would all be perfectly legal, I mean for
himself or employees, not his going into the business of selling
them.) The printer etc would be a lot cheaper than a source license.

What is this lunacy? Does anyone know for sure? I've never heard of
having to own any license to purchase a printed manual, not for any
O/S. Perhaps these were the conditions under which USENIX was allowed
to sell these? Weird, maybe they should get a better lawyer.

	-Barry Shein, Boston University