I don’t know it that place for discussing licensing or not but I have a question: If my company want use opensuse for internal use, how I can get legal approval for that? Can I get some papers from local Novell office?
the openSUSE license is included with the download at
http://software.opensuse.org/
you can print it yourself…for free!
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platinum
May be it’s work for for US but no other countries.
Is here Novell personnels to comment it?
I would like to get stamp on paper from Novell.
openSUSE is a cost-free project containing software that is released under GPL and/or GPLv2.
That means that anyone (private or commercial) is allowed to use it, and even modify it, and also copy it as many times as they want as long as they conform ot the GPL and/or GPLv2 licenses.
The openSUSE license only says that you agree not to rip off their logo, or use the collective works to make nuclear weapons or use it in countries that the US has banned it from.
If you live in one of those banned countries, or wish to use it to make nuclear weapons, then I guess you should not use openSUSE.
Maybe you should look at buying the boxed version of openSUSE, or even buying SLED instead, which is the commercial version of SUSE Linux from Novell.
But if your country is allowed to use Microsoft software, then surely you will also be allowed to use Linux and openSUSE!
> May be it’s work for for US but no other countries.
> Is here Novell personnels to comment it?
> I would like to get stamp on paper from Novell.
Novell doesn’t release or license openSUSE, instead this openSUSE
community does…
i do not know if the boxed version you can order from
http://en.opensuse.org/Buy_openSUSE includes a stamped piece of paper,
or not–but i doubt it…anyone know for sure?
based on openSUSE, Novell does develop, support, license and sell
“SUSE Linux Enterprise Server” (SLES) and “SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop” (SLED).
if you want a piece of paper with a stamp on it from Novell then you
have to talk to them about purchasing SLES or SLED, and make sure
they provide you with the license you need in your country see
http://www.novell.com/linux/ and talk directly with Novell about your
software and licensing needs…perhaps they have authorized sales and
service personnel in your country with perfect knowledge of your legal
licensing requirements…
if you don’t mind, would you mention your country’s name…thanks
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platinum
Ok. Guys I know about SLED and SLES. But I asked about OpenSUSE. I live in Russia, and by our law company need to has a hard copy license with stamp.
If I can’t get it then OpenSuse is not a good choice for us. 
ordos lider wrote:
> Ok. Guys I know about SLED and SLES. But I asked about OpenSUSE. I live
> in Russia, and by our law company need to has a hard copy license with
> stamp.
> If I can’t get it then OpenSuse is not a good choice for us.
tell you the truth i don’t know of any FREE distro which delivers a
hard copy stamped license for FREE…
which is why i mentioned SLED/S…
maybe you need to educate the ‘law’ there…free is FREE! 
maybe this will help, i just saw it on Facebook:
http://www.linuxshoppen.dk/products.php?showvariant_id=6763
it is an ad to purchase the boxed set of openSUSE 11.1 for 148 Danish
Kroner (reduced from 396…both those prices are not including Danish
Sales tax but includes mailing inside Denmark)…
as mentioned, i do NOT know if that product has a printed license, nor
if it has a ‘stamp’ your authorities will accept…
if it has a printed license, maybe the “Linux Shoppen” owner has
some sort of official looking stamp he can put on the paper for you…
i know he can work with you in English…how many seats are you buying
for?
finally, you can directly contact Novell…they sell the same boxed
set via http://en.opensuse.org/Buy_openSUSE, for a price that varies
according to locale…MAYBE when they ship to Russia they comply with
your law…i do NOT know…ask them–they are not here, in this forum,
as far as i know…
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platinum
hey, try this:
send a private message (in the web interface click “User Control
Panel” then under “Private Messages” click “Send New Message”) to
either kgroneman and/or hendersj, both those folks work for Novell and
should be able to give you a definitive answer…
or maybe an official source inside Russia…
btw, go to http://www.novell.com/ and you maybe will be automatically
switched to a Novell contact in country…(i say that because here
that switches to localized source)
or http://www.novell.com/company/contacts-offices/
OH…i looked long enough and found it for you, in the Russian
Federation phone +7(495) 697-1914, i bet they know the law and would
love to have some of your rubles
-good luck-
–
platinum
Thanks everyone! I’ll contact local Novell office.
Doesn’t the Russian Government already use open source in some areas? I know there are also Russian born Linux Distro’s as well. I am also wondering if you get a copy of the GNU license for that Linux distro, wouldn’t that explain it all?
That’s right!
openSUSE is not closed-source, proprietary software owned by Novell; it’s free software licensed under the GPL, which means you can redistribute it, install it on multiple computers, and use it any way you like.
What’s more, openSUSE does not have an EULA, (Not any more, at least) like MS-Windows does. The MS-EULA binds you to the wall on the point of a gun, saying that you will not be allowed to use the software unless you agree to their ‘terms and conditions’ (I don’t know them exactly, but I remember it’s all a lot of junk about not redistributing it, modifying it, and essentially tells you that you’re only ‘renting’ the OS for a set period of time’) and you can’t go on without agreeing to the EULA.
But openSUSE is LINUX, which means it’s completely free as in freedom, and you can do whatever you like with it; that’s the whole philosophy of Linux that makes it different from Windows and Mac, you don’t need to agreee to an EULA and you actually have full rights over your software.
While true, none of this necessarily helps the OP. I’ve read about this before - very strange ideas held by Russian authorities about Linux being only for hackers, and something that ought to be suppressed. Or also, I imagine, corrupt authorities taking it upon themselves to extort money out of people by creatively interpreting laws that shouldn’t really apply to free software in the first place.
S/he has my sympathies, and I hope can find a way around it - or that the authorities can be gently persuaded to change their minds.