New to linux question.

[Joebh]

Is Mandriva actually free, as in I get everything without paying anything?

[DragonionS]

It is really interesting question. As far as I know Free Sources are not so free as we thought. A lot of programers are working for Free Source projects and receive some salary. To my mind it is not as - as +. This work is really necessary for next developming of Linuxes

[fingal]

Is Mandriva actually free, as in I get everything without paying anything?

Hi - You might expect a yes or no answer ... but the answer is yes and no! Certain versions of Mandriva are completely free ... as in freedom and free ice cream. Other versions have had extra software added to them to support proprietary products ... for example video cards. Generally, you pay for those. At least for Mandriva.

Under the terms of the GPL you are allowed to charge for open source software if you want to, or you can give it away ... That's part of the 'freedom' aspect of things. However you must pass on the same rights to everyone else when you distribute it, so that they can enjoy the same freedom as you.

Receiving a salary is perfectly okay for developing open source software as people have to live somehow. Many open source hackers have day jobs, but love writing software and giving it away. They might receive donations for projects from grateful people, but they probably don't depend on this to live!

I use the 'free' version of Mandriva, in that I didn't pay directly for it but got it with a magazine. I added some proprietary packages to support my video card, but later unloaded them because they caused a few problems.

[Dark_Star]

Just to add a link to the thread...

http://www.mandriva.com/en/download/mandrivaone

This is free!