[plug] A couple of unrelated questions

[Scott, Simon]

Hi again guys

1) Does anyone have any good doco on setting up a ppp server? I simply want
to setup my server so I can dial in to it with my laptop. I followed the
PPP-HOWTO and a few other docs I found, but I still cant get it to work.
Initially it would kick me off with 'Unauthorized remote IP' and after a few
changes (trying to authorize IPs for that tty) it just kicks me with no
message :) I think Ive screwed up somewhere with PAP or something... 

2) GPL violations - Ive heard from a friend recently that a company in Perth
(I wont name them until I have a look at their product and my friend asks
again for the source) who are supplying people with linux based servers
(basically internet/file/printer sharing, mail server etc).. They dont give
you the root password (which seems ok unless you ask for it and dont get it)
and will not give you the source for their distribution. My friend reckons
he asked them and they said theyve only given the source to one customer,
and he had to sign an NDA. The guy then told my friend that only the linux
kernel is free, and it is copyright infringement to copy redhat and sell it,
and it is illegal to sell their product which is why they dont give the
source. This is obviously crap, and my friend, I believe, is perfectly
within his rights to ask for the full source for the distribution (except
for any proprietary binaries that might be on the distro) and even to
redistribute it as he sees fit. My question is: has anyone ever come across
people like this, and what is the best way to handle such a situation? My
friend is inclined to forget the whole thing and get me to setup a linux
server for him, but its given me the shits that companies exist that can
abuse the GPL like this. I am interested in seeing the source as I would
like to see how close it is to just a tweeked RedHat install or something.
Also they have some features that I am interested in setting up (the mail
server for example, I know nothing about mail) and it would be a shortcut
for me. Any comments? Am I being stupid?

Thanks

ps Please ignore the crappola banner warning at the bottom... I keep
forgetting to disembowel our mail admin.

MS: (n) 1. A debilitating and surprisingly widespread affliction that
renders the sufferer barely able to perform the simplest task. 2. A disease.
> ------------------------------------------------------
>  Simon Scott
>  DBA
>  Sealcorp Holdings Limited
>  Perth, WA
>  e-mail:  simon.scott at sealcorp.com.au
>  phone:  08 9265 5648
>               0438 917 845
> ------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> 


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