discuss: Thread: I would like to maintain and rewrite Mandrake book for TLDP

hi all !

I would like to take an excellent Mandrake book, and modify it
according to our needs.

Links:
http://www.mandriva.com/en/community/resources/documentation
http://doc.mandrivalinux.com/MandrakeLinux/101/en/Command-Line.html/

The only problem is that I don't know the book's license.

Please help me find out it's license

I'm thinking about committing this to TLDP. (after making more
generic, distro-neutral)
This book is unique in that it offers a very easy way for the Linux
beginners to start understanding Linux concepts, and moving all the
way forward until the newbie is capable of building a kernel.

-Alexey Eremenko. (openSUSE user)

hi all !

I would like to take an excellent Mandrake book, and modify it
according to our needs.

Links:
http://www.mandriva.com/en/community/resources/documentation
http://doc.mandrivalinux.com/MandrakeLinux/101/en/Command-Line.html/

The only problem is that I don't know the book's license.

Please help me find out it's license

I'm thinking about committing this to TLDP. (after making more
generic, distro-neutral)
This book is unique in that it offers a very easy way for the Linux
beginners to start understanding Linux concepts, and moving all the
way forward until the newbie is capable of building a kernel.

-Alexey Eremenko. (openSUSE user)

On Fri, Feb 02, 2007 at 05:39:32PM +0200, Alexey Eremenko wrote:
> hi all !
> 
> I would like to take an excellent Mandrake book, and modify it
> according to our needs.
> 
> Links:
> http://www.mandriva.com/en/community/resources/documentation
> http://doc.mandrivalinux.com/MandrakeLinux/101/en/Command-Line.html/

At the "Command-Line.html" url is a "Reference Manual".  It has a
license at the beginning (although there is no heading saying license).
It lists Chapter 12 on "Building and Installing Free Software" as
having it's own license which turns out to be GPL if you go to that
chapter and look.  But the rest of the manual is covered by the terms
stated which gives anyone permission to "reproduce, duplicate, and
distribute" it but there's no permission given in the license to
modify it.  In fact it states that permission of Mandrake Soft SA is
required for any other use of it, and this would include modification
of it.

> The only problem is that I don't know the book's license.
> 
> Please help me find out it's license
> 
> I'm thinking about committing this to TLDP. (after making more
> generic, distro-neutral) This book is unique in that it offers a
> very easy way for the Linux beginners to start understanding Linux
> concepts, and moving all the way forward until the newbie is capable
> of building a kernel.

Well, you could ask Mandrake's permission to modify and agree to give
them credit as the original author.  Or you could read it along with
other books on this subject and the based on what you've learned plus
your experience in using Linux, write your own manual.  Facts are not
copyrighted but the organization of the presentation is so you have to
devise your own outline of the topic, and you can't just paraphrase
what they wrote, etc.

Except of course for Chapter 12 which is GPL which you can modify but
must keep it as GPL if you choose to use it.

			David Lawyer