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--- events:free_licenses [2016/01/04 13:26] – [The Last Few Details] wkt
+++ events:free_licenses [2022/08/15 02:39] – old revision restored (2016/01/04 14:05) 149.57.16.137
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 ===== The Announcement =====
-On the 10th of March 1998 [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#19980310130649.37234@sco.com|Dion wrote]] that "we are ready to go when you are. That is, we can accept license applications any time.", and made it official with [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#19980310150838.29113@sco.comthis note]]:
+On the 10th of March 1998 [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#19980310130649.37234@sco.com|Dion wrote]] that "we are ready to go when you are. That is, we can accept license applications any time.", and made it official with [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#19980310150838.29113@sco.com|this note]]:
 > **SCO Provides Low-cost Source License for Ancient UNIX Versions**
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 > This license permits hobbyists and enthusiasts to have access to the source code of these historic versions of UNIX, for personal and noncommercial use, and to share experiences and code updates with other licensees.
 >
-> The license text may be found online at www.sco.com/offers, and the PUPS website URL below.  A $100 fee is charged to offset cost of legal and administrative handling of the license.
+> The license text may be found online at www.sco.com/offers, and the PUPS website.  A $100 fee is charged to offset cost of legal and administrative handling of the license.
+Dion felt that, even though this hadn't been officially blessed by legal, it was time to make it happen: "I suspect the legal/finance folks will holler foul when this hits them but hell that's their job. ;-)" (//ibid.//). By the 20th of March, SCO already had "about a dozen licenses here, all paid up and signed off." ([[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#19980320140932.37135@sco.com|e-mail from Dion]]).
+So, finally, source licenses for early Unix were available, although they were not free. This would never have been possible without such a steadfast and stalwart advocate as Dion Johnson. At the [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#19980318161915.51127@sco.com|end of March]], Dion wrote: "The legal people are a little grumpy at me, but they also know my heart is pure and they sorta respect that. ... I am very proud of doing this and grateful for your help and the help of the other PUPS and other participants in the Unix heritage. ... I am known as a bit of a maverick, and customer advocate, so it's expected.  Every company needs a few people like me". I could not agree more!
+===== Processing the New Unix Source Licenses =====
+After that, it was a bit anticlimactic. People would purchase a Unix source license through SCO's website, Dion would e-mail me their name, I would provide access to the Unix Archive, and periodically Dion would [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#19980407105028.33236@sco.com|snail-mail me photocopies]] of their signed licenses.
+===== Then: Free Unix Source Licenses =====
+On the [[http://minnie.tuhs.org/PUPS/oldnews.html|13th of May, 2000]], SCO changed the price of their early Unix source licenses to $0, i.e. free. I don't seem to have an e-mail trail that describes the motivation behind this; however, by this time Dion had passed the early Unix reins over to David Eyes at SCO ([[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#2.2.32.19981123234323.009a45c0@mammoth.sco.com|e-mail]] dated November 1998).
+SCO now provided a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20000815225122/http://www.sco.com/offers/ancient.html|click-through page]] on their website where one could obtain the source license, and SCO still notified me of the new license holders. However, the click-through page (once clicked), gave the new license holder [[http://minnie.tuhs.org/PUPS/pupsfaq.html|a link to the Unix Archive]].
+By March 2001, over 1,800 people had either bough the US$100 Unix source license or had obtained the free Unix source license (e-mail to David Eyes). At this stage, SCO were in the process of selling the Unix business over to Caldera. I had asked David: "What's happening with Caldera and the transfer of this IP, and is there anybody there that I can contact yet?" (//ibid.//). David wrote back: "The transaction still hasn't closed.  I believe that the public word is that it will likely close in April.  There was a last-minute renegotiation regarding the rights to OpenServer, which Caldera will now own completely as well." (//ibid.//)
+===== Finally: BSD-Style Unix Source Licenses =====
+Once the Unix business had been sold to Caldera, there were more internal changes, and in January 2002 I received this [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dionj_wkt.html#20020123155527.H12595@sco.com|e-mail from Dion]]:
+> I'm happy to let you know that Caldera International has placed the ancient UNIX releases (V1-7 and 32V) under a "BSD-style" license. I've attached a [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Caldera-license.pdf|PDF of the license letter]] hereto.  Feel free to propogate it as you see fit.
+>
+> Many thanks to Warren Toomey, of PUPS, and to Caldera's Bill Broderick, director of licensing services here.  Both of these gentlemen were instrumental in making this happen.  And thanks to our CEO, Ransom Love, whose vision for Caldera International prescribes cooperation and mutual respect for the open source communities.
+Wow! We had gone from no licenses to binary-only licenses, to paid then free licenses, and now BSD-style licenses. I could finally make the [[http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/|Unix Archive]] available by anonymous FTP and through the web.
 //(incomplete, more to come!)//