> From: Paul Broadhead <pjbr...@twinmoons.clara.co.uk> > Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Dell mini 10v costs more with Ubuntu than
> Alan Pope wrote: > >> As I understand it (i.e. this may be factually inaccurate) any OEM >> wishing to sell Ubuntu branded as Ubuntu needs to pay a license to >> Canonical for the use of the trademarked name. I believe there are >> also restrictions upon what you can do, for example you can't >> pre-install skype, but can pre-install some codec bundles (which are >> an additional license cost). > > I did not realise that was the case. However, the figures would be very > useful to know; both for Ubuntu and for windows. I wish companies could > be more open about the OS cost and stop trying to hide behind different > specifications and machines that cannot be compared. A while back, some of you may remember I contacted you all with respect to my business, and the prices for selling Ubuntu pre-installed desktop PCs. In response a number of posters suggested I get in touch with Canonical regarding whether there are royalty fees associated. They did eventually reply. Apologies, I meant to forward this to you all a long time ago. Here was the response: "In terms of selling PCs with Ubuntu preloaded, as Ubuntu is free software and free to download, you don't need a license from us in order to do this. However, if you want to use the Ubuntu logo on the PCs you sell, this falls under our Trademarks and that is a different matter. We only allow PCs that have been Ubuntu Certified or Ubuntu Compatibility tested to display the Ubuntu logo. There can be no indication on the PCs that you sell with Ubuntu preloaded that these have been certified to work with Ubuntu, if this is not the case. So you are perfectly welcome to sell PCs with Ubuntu preloaded, but just not to use our trademarks or branding in this regard." In other words, it's a question of branding, rather than getting permission to use the software. If you don't use the branding, you don't pay anything. Hope this is useful to you all. Eddie -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/