AT&T and Unix

[dmr at dutoit.UUCP]

Although this is indeed not a good forum to discuss licensing issues,
I can't resist.

Brandon Allbery wonders why AT&T provides source licenses for Unix
at low cost to educational institutions (which must, by the way,
be degree-granting, and which also must use the system for educational
purposes only: if they use it for administration or other such things
they pay more).

The policy of educational licenses has been in effect for a
long time (since well before Unix) and is generally defended internally
by reasons such as these:

1) General social benefit by supporting education
2) Increased visibility and better communication for Bell Labs within
   the scientific community.

Giving licenses to anyone who asks (or even who certifies that he
is just a little guy who promises not to compete) is not in the cards.

In another letter, Chuqui von R. displays a couple of misapprehensions:
First, AT&T does not get any tax break out of cheap source licenses for
universities.  To write off a donation, you must give it free and
clear.  As has been discussed at length here, licenses are licenses
to use; AT&T still owns the source.  Thus no donation.

Second, AT&T didn't "have to" give educational licenses.  There were
commercial licenses years before divestiture.

	Dennis Ritchie