lug letter

[Karl Berry]

My proposed revised draft of the letter to go out to the lugs.  It is
basically what Art had, I just made a few editorial changes
(non-controversial I hope) and added a paragraph about the cost at the end.


- I suggest that Pat send this out as soon we get a grip on the pricing.
Pat, don't forget to replace the xx's :).

- Phil, I recognize your concern about including what is and is not
included on the CD, but I don't know the answer.  Sebastian, can you
please tell us?  Besides Unix and win32 ... ?

- For the `well-off' user groups, I marked a place in the second-to-last
paragraph to include a short note to them, which I think should go
something like this:

  This is slightly more than cost of reproduction; that extra cost will
  go towards subsidizing the cost of TeX Live to other user groups from
  countries with weaker economies; TUG will not benefit.  If this
  presents a burden for your group, please contact us to acquire the CD
  at cost.

- Question: will shipping cost be additional?  I suppose it should be, as
shipping isn't really `per CD'.  We can just bill actual cost, I guess?


 To: <lug contact>
 Reply-To: tex-live@tug.org
 Subject: TeX Live 4 available to local TeX user groups (LUGs)

TeX Live 4 is almost ready.

The TeX Users Group has arranged with Sebastian Rahtz, the editor of the
TeX Live CD-ROM, to act as the distributor of TeX Live 4, the release of
TeX Live for 1999.  In doing so, TUG aims to support Sebastian's efforts
to create this CD and to provide it at nominal cost to TeX users
worldwide.

TUG's intention in the terms for further redistribution of the TeX Live
CD-ROM is to give the donors of the software contained therein the
assurance that the licensing requirements they have made are properly
observed.

Because these requirements vary so much between different portions of
the software on the CD, TUG strongly recommends that you simply pass the
CD on to your members and allow TUG to handle requests for further
redistribution of the CD.

Recipients of the CD can only copy and redistribute the software thereon
by complying with the conditions placed on the relevant packages
involved.  To facilitate this, TUG will prepare a short announcment of
the TeX Live CD mentioning the copying conditions (TUG will, e.g.,
publish this flyer in the relevant issue of TUGboat). It will refer to a
file on the CD that will explain things further.

Some of the software requires that, if it is packaged with other
publications, such as books or journals, those things be freely
copyable.  A model for this is TUGboat; please see the notice on the
inside front cover of TUGboat <copied below>. This is relevant if you
plan on distributing the CD with your newsletter or journal.

Anyone interested in selling the CD with a commercial
(non-redistributable) offering of any kind should contact TUG directly.
This is not allowed by default.  Likewise, charging more than a nominal
fee (to recover costs) is also not allowed by default -- and it is
better to charge nothing at all for the CD itself, but to provide as a
free benefit of membership.  (These conditions are set by some of the
software on the CD, not by TUG.)

If you have particular concerns in distributing the TeX Live CD to your
members, please contact us right away at the email address below.  We
fully expect to be able to resolve any difficulties, but your timely
reply is needed.

Expected manufacturing date of TL4 is early to mid April 1999.  We hope
to mail the CD's to you for distribution shortly thereafter.

We expect to be able to offer TeX Live to your user group at a cost of
US$xx per copy.  If this cost is infeasible for your group, please
contact us to work out an arrangement.
--xx for well-off lugs, replace that sentence with the note for
     expensive user groups, see above --

Please respond to tex-live@tug.org as soon as possible with your desired
quantity, even if that quantity is zero.

Thanks, and happy TeX'ing,
tex-live@tug.org