TeX CD

[Ulrik Vieth]

>> Does acrobat allow commercial redistribution?
>> 
>     this is just the free reader. i meant to ring up Adobe and check, but
>     i am pretty sure they *like* this kind of thing.

> Probably. What counts isn't what some random person on the phone says,
> anyway. It's what the license statement that comes with the binary says.

I really don't see a problem here.  I've just looked at the license document
that comes with the Solaris Reader (LICREAD.TXT), and here's what it says:
----------------
[...]
Adobe grants to you a nonexclusive license to use the Software, provided that 
you agree to the following:

1.  Use of the Software.

*   You may install the Software in a single location on a hard disk or other 
storage device; install and use the Software on a file server for use on a 
network for the purpose of permanent installation onto hard disks or other 
storage devices or use of the Software over such network; and make backup
copies of the Software.

*   You may make unlimited copies of the Software and give copies to other 
persons or entities as long as the copies contain this Agreement and the same 
copyright and other proprietary notices that appear on or in the Software.
[...]
----------------

My understanding of this is that you are allowed to redistribute the
original files as mirrored from Adobe's FTP server as long as you don't
mess around with them.  Thus, it might be problematic to redistribute
a ready-to-run pre-installed version, but it's prefectly OK to put the
distribution on CD so that people can install it from there themselves.


>> discover the first bug as soon as you unpack the first copy of the 
>> final product.  Never mind, that's life.  

> It is crucial to do at least some testing of the Real Thing just before
> it gets written to the CD master, so that TeX Live is not stillborn.

I was thinking to silly minor bugs one would find, such as having some 
extra bogus files around or having some files misplaced.  Of course,
we should try to make sure that there are no major problems and that 
at least the mainstream used by the majority of people is well tested.

Cheers, Ulrik