Andrew, I think you have that summarised pretty much the way I understand it -- except that, after the first year, you can cancel and pay only a pro-rata portion of the fees for the new year's coverage -- at any time, with 60 days' notice. I link to the actual contract text from my [link|http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/linux-info/rhel-isos|http://linuxmafia.co...ux-info/rhel-isos] information page, cited earlier.

I certainly wouldn't call it anything like a rapacious or coercive contract. As usual, you just have to understand what you're being asked to agree to. I've encounted a number of RHEL customers who've been taken by surprise, but they really should have been paying closer attention when they agreed to those terms.

I guess the ironic part is this: No sooner did (most) people using Linux finally became accustomed to paying attention to copyright issues then someone (RH) found an (apparently quite legitimate) way of wrapping otherwise redistributable software in a fairly restrictive, self-perpetuating contract -- and a lot of those same users got taken by surprise a second time.

Other than that, it's just an intriguing arrangement: You're perfectly welcome to have the software with no official support (if you can find someone willing to duplicate it for you, which nobody's either required to do or prohibited from doing). Or you can have a copy bundled with minimum 1 year non-transferrable support + updates, leaving you mildly shackled for the duration of your support term and obliged to pay per-seat support fees.

You want support/updates? OK, but you're obliged to bleed cash for every host in operation at your site, as long as your firm has even one support contract in force. You don't need support/updates? Fine, feel free to get the software anywhere you can, and we won't hit you up for money. Ingenious, effective, and (I would say) eminently fair, once you get over being surprised at the arrangement's construction.

Rick Moen
rick@linuxmafia.com