Lysrin
Well-known member
IIRC, if you look into the available free linux desktops, you can find several that are very close to Windows look and feel. I'd say you could get close enough by picking a distro with a desktop that gets you close enough to emulating Windows without paying anything, if that's the goal.question, it seems that Linux distro's that emulate Windows look and feel are now a pay for thing. what do you need to setup something similar without buying a license? my understanding is that Linux is open source so essentially 'free' but the companies creating their variants can charge for different levels of support. is it more nuanced than that? Windowsfx sells a Pro license for their desktop / skin / GUI, so does that mean it is their IP and they don't have to share or do they have to provide a way for users to access the stuff but set it up by themselves manually?
Regarding your question about what are they selling, it really depends on the open-source license the item is released under by the developers. That's a HUGE discussion (I deal with it all the time at work), but it ranges from you can do whatever you want with the software, change it, sell it, make it commercial, sell support, etc. to the other end where it's still free, but you have to attach our licensing to whatever you do with it and any changes you make have to be also available for free and released under the same license. Bear in mind that is an oversimplification of both ends of the spectrum, but you get the idea.
Open-source software is great, we use a lot for a variety of things, but for a business or government it's a little like walking in a minefield when it comes to open-source licensing. You have to be very careful.