I found a torrent file for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.1 64-bit DVD. Is it legal for me to download this DVD? Also, is it ethical? I want to try out Red Hat, but I don’t want to get in trouble with the authorities.
Why not try Centos, which is basically RHEL with branding removed. No problems with that. If you like it and want to pay for RHEL support, then you can sign up with RH.
I am worried that Centos may contain backdoors, since it’s not distributed by Red Hat. I also wanted to have the Red Hat logo on the launch bar instead of the fedora or Centos logo.
Oh dear, paranoid aren’t we.
No, I’m not paranoid. I have never heard of Centos before, and I don’t want to install something from an obscure source that might be tainted. That is a valid concern, even with open source software.
On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:16:03 GMT
BNG22908 <BNG22908@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> No, I’m not paranoid. I have never heard of Centos before, and I don’t
> want to install something from an obscure source that might be
> tainted. That is a valid concern, even with open source software.
>
>
Hi
But your happy to download a potentially corrupt(root kitted) torrent
rather than from source?
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
SLED 10 SP2 i586 Kernel 2.6.16.60-0.23-default
up 4:47, 1 user, load average: 0.38, 0.27, 0.38
GPU GeForce Go 6600 TE/6200 TE Version: 173.14.09
BNG22908 wrote:
>
> I am worried that Centos may contain backdoors, since it’s not
> distributed by Red Hat.
Actually, I’d be more worried about Red Hat and backdoors, but in the overall scheme of things, I wouldn’t worry about them at all… 
> I also wanted to have the Red Hat logo on the
> launch bar instead of the fedora or Centos logo.
>
And there’s your dilemma. Red Hat trademarks are basically protected by copyright laws; that’s why CentOS removes them. You can’t distribute copyrighted material without permission, and I’m fairly certain that RH has not given permission for RHEL to be randomly downloaded. People pay for the brand, so RH won’t take kindly to people using it ad hoc with their logos as if it were a paid subscription. Branding, and the support that backs it, are really the only things that separates RHEL from CentOS and the like, but it’s a big difference.
I’d also be concerned about “backdoors” being inserted into the torrent, as well, unless you can get a checksum to verify it.
Better yet, use openSUSE or SLES. Cheaper, and no legal concerns…
Just my 2c…
Cheers,
KV
And yet you are willing to trust an unofficial bittorrent that might have been tampered, though in all probability it’s the real thing.
You can read up on Centos on distrowatch.com and also do a search on the web. Many hosting sites offer Centos as an alternative for people who want a RHEL-like environment without the support.
Thanks else_where, that explains it well to a beginner like me.
If I give a friend a copy of my SLED DVD, is that an infringement on Novell’s copyrights? Oh wait never mind, there’s no point when the Open Suse DVD is available.
On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:46:03 GMT
BNG22908 <BNG22908@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> If I give a friend a copy of my SLED DVD, is that an infringement on
> Novell’s copyrights? Oh wait never mind, there’s no point when the
> Open Suse DVD is available.
>
>
Hi
SLED/SLES Downloads are available free of charge, your friend can login
and get an activation code good for 60days to all updates and also use
the md5sums to verify. Download the SDK and get some additional
supported applications.
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
SLED 10 SP2 i586 Kernel 2.6.16.60-0.23-default
up 5:19, 1 user, load average: 0.30, 0.38, 0.34
GPU GeForce Go 6600 TE/6200 TE Version: 173.14.09
If you want something that acts like a duck, swims like a duck and looks like a duck then get a duck. In other words, if you want something with Red Hat’s logo then you need to use a legal copy of Red Hat and just because you CAN get a DVD (or the Red Hat logos) doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
If you want something that is 99.9% (or more) compatible with RHEL then I would go with CentOS over any of the other clones out there (Whitebox is the only other one that comes to mind). A link to the trademark information is available from the CentOS website (or use this link)
As for CentOS putting in a back door, they can do it as easily as anybody (including openSUSE). They have a good reputation (notice the number of people here suggesting them?) so I doubt they are doing any messing around.
BNG22908 wrote:
>
> If I give a friend a copy of my SLED DVD, is that an infringement on
> Novell’s copyrights? Oh wait never mind, there’s no point when the Open
> Suse DVD is available.
>
>
SLED <> openSUSE
They are not the same thing, although SLED is based on openSUSE.
–
bob@rsmits.ca (Robert Smits, Ladysmith BC)
“I’m not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect
that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn’t need an
interpreter.” - Nicholas Petreley
CentOS is still OSS. You can see exactly what they put in their servers, and CentOS is aimed at the commercial market. It should be pretty safe. I wouldn’t worry about back doors that much.
Then again, do you really need commercial Linux?
He can even use SLED/SLES, install it as many times as he likes all the way till the end of days (even call up Novell and thank them for such a great product 
).
It’s all ok, you will just be missing the updates and any claim to get support, …that is until you get a subscription (and assuming the SLEx version you are using is still supported).
That is the big difference here…
I have another question, if you don’t mind answering it for me. If someone buys a SLED DVD, are the updates that are released for that SLED installation any different or better than updates that are released for a free installation of Open SuSE?
I’ve been using CentOS on my website for the past 5 months. I have not had a problem yet, with the exception of the 5.1 -> 5.2 kernel update (easily remedied by booting a different kernel).
Yes. Right now SLED is based on openSUSE 10.1, and they use different package repositories.
Oh, I found out that once you create a Red Hat account, they let you download the images right from the Red Hat website. Then after registering, you get a 30-day free trial, which entitles you to updates. Using Bit Torrent isn’t even necessary. Also, the Red Hat servers are very fast, because they maxed out my network card’s top speed (100 MB/s). The DVD downloaded in no time. I’m going to install it on my other hard drive to practice with.
On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:26:03 GMT
BNG22908 <BNG22908@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> Oh, I found out that once you create a Red Hat account, they let you
> download the images right from the Red Hat website. Then after
> registering, you get a 30-day free trial, which entitles you to
> updates. Using Bit Torrent isn’t even necessary. Also, the Red Hat
> servers are very fast, because they maxed out my network card’s top
> speed (100 MB/s). The DVD downloaded in no time. I’m going to install
> it on my other hard drive to practice with.
>
>
Hi
That’s because you are the first person to download it
Try out SLES you get 60 days plus generally another 30 day extension.
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
SLED 10 SP2 i586 Kernel 2.6.16.60-0.25-default
up 1 day 2:08, 1 user, load average: 0.12, 0.68, 0.75
GPU GeForce Go 6600 TE/6200 TE Version: 173.14.09