So, good news for all open-source software distributors is that you can distribute Adobe Reader with your distribution or whatever. You can, but you don't want to do that. Really. I'm 100% sure you don't.

Last night was quite exciting for me. I was sitting at my PC all day, packaging software for my new distrolet, an Arch-Linux-based Arch Gem Live, a DVD with gigabytes of software for DTP, photography, and web design. I am using the Larch script which makes this task ridiculously easy, and the end results are, well... booting for starters. It all looks very promising.

When you talk DTP, you think Scribus. But there are many other applications that you really need if you do it for real. High on the list, though, is Adobe Reader. No need to explain what it does. It reads and displays the PDF files. However, being that PDF is an Adobe format, Acrobat Reader does that much better than most open-source readers out there. So if you really, really need to see how your PDFs will look like, you need Acrobat Reader, and not some XYZ reader.

So, here's my problem. I can package Acrobat Reader from the Arch Linux repository, but I'm not allowed to do so. The EULA specifically states that if you intend to distribute the Reader, you need to sign a different contract. I went to the specified URL and reviewed the agreement. Now, I'm not a lawyer and I don't enjoy reading all that stuff. But I also didn't want to go to jail, so I had to read it.

Here's how it goes (excerpts):

THIS IS A CONTRACT BETWEEN ADOBE SYSTEMS INCORPORATED AND [FIRST NAME], [LAST NAME], [COMPANY NAME] LOCATED AT [ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP, COUNTRY] ("Licensee"). LICENSEE HAS INDICATED ACCEPTANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT BY CLICKING "ACCEPT" AT http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/acrrdistribute.html or http://www.adobe.com/licensing/distribution AND THEREFORE HAS AGREED TO AND IS BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE AGREEMENT.

For those that are not familiar with these things, this means that a "License" is a contract, nothing more, nothing less. It's an agreement between two parties, and you enter it by agreeing to it. You don't have to, of course, but you can. And if you do, you are bound by the terms in it. If you "buy a license" for a piece of software, you are actually buying the right to sign (agree to) and be bound by such a contract. Even if you don't pay (like you don't pay for Acrobat Reader), you get to sign the contract, because that's how commercial vendors make money. The books and CDs are nothing compared to the EULA.

So, you sit and go through that thing (don't click on "I Agree" just yet), and get familiar with the TERMS which will govern how you use the software.

Quite a few paragraphs (called "sections" by lawyers) below, you'll find this:

2.2 Distribution. Subject to the restrictions and requirements set forth below, Licensee may (a) install one copy of the Software on a Licensee computer file server for the purpose of downloading and installing the Software onto computers within Licensee's Intranet, for internal use only, (b) bundle the Software in physical media (such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, hard disk, etc.) solely as part of, with, or in conjunction with Licensee Product, (c) if the Software is a Web Player, distribute the Software through the Internet to end users, solely as part of or with Licensee Product (such as bundled in Licensee's installer, which in turn, is downloaded through the Internet), and (d) if the Software is Adobe Reader, reproduce and distribute the Software solely (i) as bundled with other software or content, through electronic means (including, without limitation, electronic software download), (ii) as bundled with other software or content, on tangible media, or (iii) on a standalone basis solely on tangible media.

This defines in what way you are allowed to distribute the software. 2.2(b) says you can bundle the software on removable media only as part of my Live DVD (since that is considered my "product"). "Solely as part of" implies that there cannot be any separate packages of it, except as part of the "product". So far so good...

Now, every license agreement has a twist. That twist occurs when you hit the part titled "Restrictions". The first part says what you can do, and the second part says what you can't.

(a) Default Settings. Licensee shall not modify the default updater settings of any copy of the Software Licensee makes or distributes on any physical media (such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, computer hard disks, etc.).

I am not allowed to disable any updaters and change default settings. I don't mind that, but you have to keep in mind that people do this quite often with open-source software. Just compare the control panels in Kubuntu version of KDE to, say, a Slackware's version. They are different. That's because open-source software allows you to modify the software according to your own needs. You can do no such thing with clause 2.3(a) of ADOBE READER SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT.

I'll just skip the part (in bold, too) which tells you not to use the software in embedded systems. Here's another interesting part instead:

(ii) Licensee may distribute only the version of the Software (with its corresponding installer) provided to Licensee by Adobe upon completion of this Agreement on the specific Authorized Operating System listed in Exhibit A. Licensee shall not distribute any version of the Software found elsewhere, including on www.Adobe.com, www.Macromedia.com, or any other download site on the Internet. [bold in original]

So, you can't just get the software anywhere (even though it is supposed to be identical to any other copy). You must wait for their e-mail which tells you where to get your distributor's copy. Now that is not very convenient because I already have an Arch Linux package sitting there. I can't use it though. But the good thing is I get my very own copy that I can distribute! Yay! (One trick is to get the same version (be it a .rpm, .tar.gz or something else) that your distribution's packager uses. If you're lucky enough, you'll be able to repackage it with some help from your distribution's packager, or something like that.)

(iii) Licensee must use the Software and the corresponding installers provided by Adobe AS IS and may not, without express written permission from Adobe, modify or alter the manner in which the Software files install. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Licensee may repackage the Software installer to the extent necessary to distribute the Software through internal systems management and configuration management software.

I can repackage the Reader for distribution with my Live DVD, but make no further modifications (like changing the default settings, branding it, etc).

Skipping the part that talks about not making a stand-alone package available, yada-yada, we come to this:

(v) Licensee may not combine the Software with Licensee Product in such a way that the Licensee Product's own file format or data type takes over the file format or data type for the Software. Flash Player and Shockwave Player must always remain the default players for their respective file formats and data types.

I cannot use Adobe Reader as part of some software that manupulates PDFs using the Reader's functionality except when it is allowed by design of the Reader. Also, in case of flahs players, your contract is void (not valid) if the player is not the default player for its formats. Now, how about that. I'm already getting a bit annoyed here. You can't choose which player will be default?! Okay, so the Adobe Flash Player is the best one around, but you are also forced to use it as default.

Skipping a rather large chunk of legal stuff, we come to this part which made me very, very angry:

2.5 Sublicensing Requirements. Licensee will distribute, and will ensure that its distributors and resellers distribute, the Software under the Adobe end user license agreement accompanying the Software or, if no such license accompanies the Software, Licensee's end user license agreement containing the following minimum terms in favor of Licensee and its suppliers: (a) prohibition against distribution and copying, (b) prohibition against modifications and derivative works, (c) prohibition against decompiling, reverse engineering, disassembling, and otherwise reducing the software to a human-perceivable form, (d) provision indicating ownership of software by Licensee and its suppliers, (e) disclaimer of all applicable statutory warranties, to the full extent allowed by law, and (f) industry standard limitation of liability, including a disclaimer of indirect, special, incidental, punitive, and consequential damages. Licensee will not grant any rights in the Software under a license that (g) allows modification of the Software, (h) requires the disclosure or distribution of the Software in source code form, or (i) allows the distribution of the Software for a fee. Licensee shall not make any warranty, express or implied, on behalf of Adobe. [bold type mine]

So, I cannot make the Live DVD free in the true sense of this word, because I cannot allow Adobe Reader to be redistributed by my licensees (people who download and use the DVD). I cannot, of course, publish the DVD under a GNU license either, because that would mean that the Reader would also be GNU, which is not possible under the sections 2.5(f), (g), (h), or (i). Now, I really don't care about GNU, but I do want my licensees to be able to share my "product", so I can't distribute Adobe.

Or I can tell my licensees that it is not legal for them to share the DVD, and tell them they might end up in jail for sharing. They can't make copies of the DVD, they can't have multiple copies themselves, they can't lend, sell, or lease the copy, yada-yada. If they do, they are criminals. All they can do is have their loved ones, or friends, get their own copies from my server (which would mean a waste of bandwidth because a perfectly good copy can be made from a phisical medium they created).

If you really need to distribute Adobe Reader along with your distro, you'd better put a label on it saying: "DANGER: Adobe Reader ${VERSION} included", so that your users won't go to jail by mistake, thinking that they can legally share their copies with their friends.

There is even more crap in the license:

2.6 New Versions. Upon release of a new version of the Software by Adobe, Licensee will cease all reproduction and distribution of the Software upon the earlier of (a) the next release of software, content or other product with which Licensee bundles the Software, or (b) six (6) months from the date Adobe makes such new version of the Software commercially available. As used in this section, "new version" means a major new release of the Software, typically designated by a change in the version number of the Software to the left of the decimal point (e.g., 7.0.x to 8). Adobe may notify Licensee when new versions are released.

So they don't guarantee that the new version would be better, but they are telling you you have six months to upgrade and remove the old version from your distribution, as soon as the new one is out. What if I don't like the new version? Or suppose it has a bug that makes it unusable for the purposes I intended to use it? Well, guess what: you can't use the old version after six months.

One more thing (this you might not have known):

8. Copies of Product to Adobe. Unless the Software is distributed via an Intranet, at Adobe's request Licensee will provide Adobe two (2) copies of Licensee Product or one (1) membership to Licensee Service free of charge within seventy-two (72) hours of Adobe's request. This will facilitate resolving potential quality assurance issues with Licensee's incorporation of Software. In the event Licensee Product contains Licensee confidential information, Adobe will cooperate with entering into a confidentiality agreement with Licensee.

So, I need to give Adobe two copies of my Live DVD if so asked by Adobe. Well, I guess they'll have to download the .iso and see that there is no Reader on it. I'll look for an alternative that will better serve the purpose of the DVD...