Re: Commercial use of FreeDOS

Jack Dodds wrote:
> My small company (about 25 employees) manufactures and sells data 
> acquisition equipment which is controlled by embedded software (i.e. the 
> user never sees the software directly, there's no keyboard or screen). 
> The processor is PC-compatible board built around an 80386 equivalent chip.
> 
> The original version of the product used an 8088 equivalent CPU which 
> came with a DR-DOS 5.0 licence.  When we moved to the 80386 equivalent 
> CPU, we had to purchase MS-DOS 6.11 licences from Microsoft at about $40 
> for every unit that we sell.  Our unit boots up into MS-DOS, runs an 
> AUTOEXEC.BAT which launches our embedded code, and our code uses the 
> MS-DOS file system (FAT-16) to write data on IDE-compatible CompactFlash 
> disks and M-Systems Disk-On-Chip devices.  That's the only use we make 
> of MS-DOS. So our payment of $40 per unit to the convicted monopolist 
> rankles just a bit.
> 
> FreeDOS looks attractive to us, but I have a couple of questions which I 
> hope someone on this listserv can help me with.
> 
> - Would the GPL allow us to install FreeDOS on our units, without 
> modification, and use it to run our proprietary embedded software?

Yes, but doing so means you will be making a distribution of FreeDOS, 
and that distribution must be done under the terms of the GNU GPL, which 
has this provision for redistribution:


     3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, 
under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of 
Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

     a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable 
source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 
2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

     b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three 
years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of 
physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable 
copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms 
of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software 
interchange; or,

     c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer 
to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed 
only for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program 
in object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with 
Subsection b above.)


Of course, if you are selling a bundled product, 3c does not apply.

What most companies usually do when distributing FreeDOS with their 
product is do both 3a and 3b, when possible, even though only one is 
required. Using this shotgun approach makes sure that you are covered. 
In any case, it usually doesn't involve any additional effort.

But in your case, the user never interacts with DOS, so meeting 3a may 
be difficult for you unless you plan to include a copy of the FreeDOS 
distribution, or at least a CD-ROM of all the source code from FreeDOS 
that you use (if you use only the kernel + FreeCOM, you can just include 
some floppies that contain their source code.)


If you cannot include a copy of the FreeDOS source with your product, I 
would recommend making a statement in your printed or on-line help 
and/or documentation that makes special note that the FreeDOS kernel is 
distributed under the GNU GPL, and direct them to an area on your web 
site to download a copy of source code to the kernel that you used. Of 
course, many people also modify this somewhat, to use a statement 
something like "this software uses the FreeDOS kernel, which is 
distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL. You can download a copy of 
the source code to the FreeDOS kernel that we used from our web site at 
http://www.company.com/support/files/freedos/fd-kernel-VERSION.zip or 
get the most recent copy at the FreeDOS web site at 
http://www.freedos.org." This should meet 3b.

Of course, I am not a lawyer, so you may want to review the GNU GPL with 
legal counsel.



> 
> - As far as a I can see, all the FreeDOS distributions are described as 
> "Betas".  To my mind this implies the possible presence of bugs. What 
> would be the most reliable FreeDOS version for us, considering that we 
> are primarily using the kernel, not the utilities? And also keeping in 
> mind that we don't need any advanced capabilities such as extended 
> memory support. (We would like to use disks > 512 MB though.)

A few times, I've suggested we drop the "Beta" label since I consider 
the operating system to be very stable.  But IIRC, others have strongly 
been of the opinion that we keep the "Beta" label until we are able to 
implement every DOS program on the Base list:
<http://www.freedos.org/freedos/software/lsmtable.cgi?dir=base>

The items listed "(none)" are: CHCP, CHKDSK, GRAPHICS, NLSFUNC.

> 
> - If we contribute money to the FreeDOS project, where does it go?
> 

People have been asking me for some time if and when I will establish
FreeDOS as a charitable organization, mostly so that people can donate
money to a "FreeDOS Foundation" to support their favorite FreeDOS
project (kernel, FreeCOM, etc.)

I have thought long and hard about this. I'd already contacted
several people in my Minnesota state government asking about how to
become a charitable organization. However, I have since decided that
I don't have the time to set this up and manage it.

That said, if someone else establishes a charitable organization in
the name of FreeDOS, I'll certainly sit on the board as an Advisor.
But I don't have the time to take this on by myself.

However, I don't feel that FreeDOS needs to be a charitable
organization in order to grow. If you want to support your favorite
project under FreeDOS, contact the maintainer of that project directly
to ask what you can do to help. In most cases, writing code will be
the most direct method of support. :)

For donations of money or equipment, that should be supportable
through the Free Software Foundation (http://www.fsf.org or
http://www.gnu.org). The Free Software Foundation is a tax-exempt
charity that raises funds for work on the GNU Project and other free
software projects.

I asked Richard Stallman (GNU) if the FSF would be willing to accept
donations that would benefit FreeDOS projects.

His reply was "yes".

When you make your donation, simply request that it be directed to
support FreeDOS or a particular project under FreeDOS. See
http://www.gnu.org/help/donate.html for details on how to donate to
the FSF. For obvious reasons, I think it would be best if you named a
specific project (the kernel, or CD-ROM support, or a GUI, etc.)



-jh



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