Mandriva Legal FAQ

 

Definitions

Commercial Products :

The Mandriva Linux Distributions which are sold in retail, e-commerce, and directly by Mandriva its partners and distributors. These include (but are not restricted to) Powerpack, Corporate Server, and Corporate Desktop.

Free Software/Open Source Software :

"Free software" (or "Open Source Software") refers to the users' freedom to use, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software by following particular and well-defined licensing rules. For further details, refer to:
html,http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html,
http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php

GPL :

The General Public License is a Free Software license.
For further details see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.

What licensing model does Mandriva Linux follow?

All code developed and distributed by Mandriva is released under the General Public License or equivalent. Mandriva Free only includes software covered by a Free Software/Open Source license. Mandriva One includes also some proprietary drivers. Mandriva Commercial products include proprietary third-party software products, which contain their own licensing models.

Do third party software products have their own licensing models?

Yes. Third party software included in our Commercial products may be demonstration versions, time limited versions, or versions that require a key to be activated, or freeware which retain a proprietary license. Please consult the appropriate instructions in each software package for complete licensing terms.

Can I distribute Mandriva Free and Mandriva One?

Yes, it is permissible to copy and distribute those products. In any case, the following notice must appear clearly and distinctively: "This product is the Mandriva Linux Distribution known as « Mandriva One » or "Mandriva Free" and is available free of chargre from Mandriva."

Can I distribute Commercial Products for free?

No. Certain third party software, not governed by a free software license, is bundled with commercial products. Additionally, you may not use the Mandriva name, trademarks and logos (which is our business responsibility to protect), without prior agreement.

I am a Powerpack subscriber. Can I distribute Power Pack?

No. Powerpack contains third party software covered by proprietary licenses and are thus not redistributable. Additionally, these are premium products offered to subscribers as part of their subscription. Thus, they are not intended to be freely distributed. However, if you wish to become a Mandriva distributor, we would gladly welcome you as a Mandriva Partner and establish a win/win agreement. See our Partner Page.

Can I make modifications to Mandriva Linux Products?

Yes. User contributed modifications aimed at improving software is the essence of Free Software. These modifications must retain the same Free Software license that you were granted (please refer to the GPL text for further details: www.gnu.org) whenever you distribute the resulting product.

Can I distribute the modifications I performed on Mandriva One and Mandriva Free?

You may not redistribute a modified version of Mandriva products unless all registered trademarks, brands, names and logos referring to Mandrivasoft are removed. This includes, for instance, the use of the word "Mandriva Linux", "Mandriva", the Mandriva Linux and Mandrivasoft logos. This is required to protect Mandrakesoft's intellectual property rights and to avoid creating confusion for our clients. However, if you wish to become a Mandrakesoft distributor, we would gladly welcome you as a Mandrakesoft Partner and establish a win/win agreement. See our Partner Page.

Can I distribute the modifications I performed on the commercial versions of Mandriva Linux without asking Mandriva?

Yes, but only if you remove all software that is not covered by a Free Software license. Also, all registered trademarks, brands, names and logos related to Mandriva must be removed. If you do not comply with these terms, you are not allowed to distribute the modifications as this would constitute an infringement of the intellectual property rights owned by each software owner. Also, you may not call this product "Mandriva Linux" or any other name related to Mandriva so our clients will not be confused by projects that we are not associated with.

I run e-commerce activities (i.e., I sell on eBay, on some other commercial site or on my own website); can I distribute a Mandriva product (including One and Free) in the absence of an agreement?

You can only distribute Mandriva Free and Mandriva One only if you comply with the rules exposed above. Commercial products cannot be distributed without an agreement since you would be violating proprietary licenses contained in them. Also you could be violating brand agreements we have signed with partners in specific areas. However, we favor such distributions and will be glad to put an agreement in place by which you can make such a distribution.
. In any case, you cannot use any logo while selling products on the Web without our permission.

I am a magazine editor; can I distribute a Mandriva product (including the Download) with my magazine in the absence of an agreement?

Yes! All you need to do is to sign an agreement with Mandriva to use our trademarks and logos. The absence of such an agreement, you would be violating our trademark. Also you could be violating brand agreements we have signed with partners in specific areas. However, we favor such distributions and will be glad to settle an agreement by which you can do such a distribution.

Contact us at . At this stage, many magazines have been distributing Mandriva Linux.

I am an OEM hardware vendor (i.e., I sell laptops, desktops, workstations, and servers). Can I sell them with Mandriva Free or Mandriva One Version installed or included on a CD?

Yes! All you need to do is to sign an agreement with Mandriva to use our trademarks and logos. In absence of such an agreement, you would have to remove all utterances of our names and brands from the Mandriva Linux operating system. Also you will certainly want to be sure that our system runs properly on your hardware. We would be glad to see you participate in our certification program and enter a win-win distribution agreement with us. This will allow you to ensure the quality of the final products and leverage our brand. At this stage, several hundreds of OEMs have been distributing Mandriva Linux successfully.
Contact us at:

I am a VAR (i.e., I distribute software products that include a Linux distribution). Can I include a Mandriva Linux distribution in my products and distribute them as is?

Yes, of course: you just need to sign an agreement with Mandriva to use our trademarks and logos. In absence of such an agreement, you would have to remove our name and brands from your product. It is our responsibility to protect that name and brand. However we favor such distributions and will be glad to put in place a win-win agreement by which you can indeed include our product into yours.

Contact us at:

I represent a business or organization which is interested in using a Mandriva Linux commercial products. Can I install a single Commercial Product on all of my machines?

Some of our commercial products include proprietary programs which carry a licence that forbids multiple installations.

Can I use the graphics created by Mandriva independently of the software?

The "Star Logo" is registered and remains the intellectual property of Mandriva. You may register in our partnership program if you would like to use other Mandriva visuals and graphics. Registration is free and easy on our website: Partner Page. When using our visuals, please refer to our Guidelines.