I first want to highlight a couple of things BEFORE we get into the meat of this post…

This is a MARKETING blog. This post is going to be quite a bit about marketing.

There WILL be some techie stuff discussed as well, but, very high level. Hopefully not too techie to bore marketing folk to death.

I AM a UBER techie, who has been working with Linux since a couple of days after Linus released his very 1st kernel on the Internet in 1991.

I have been using Linux ever since for MANY different things. I DO use Windows for much of my marketing activities, as the software I use is not yet available on Linux.

Thank goodness for VMWare which allows me to run Windows on top of Linux.

Unlike Microsoft Windows, which has a couple of live “versions” out there, Linux has HUNDREDS of distributions, better known as distros in the Linux community.

Many of them are targeted at specific audiences and market segments.

Generally Linux is free, as the main part of the operating system, the kernel, is released under the GPL.

Some companies DO charge a fee, but, this is either for distribution costs, or, for support.

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Today I became one of the "exclusive" list of beta testers for a brillian new piece of software called Xobni (Inbox backwards).

It integrates into Microsoft Outlook, and provides some amazing insight, as well as tools for managing email. Best of all, it’s FREE!

Look what it tells me about my mail usage over the past 6 months:

Average of around 3000 incoming emails per month! WOW!

Go check out this amazing tool now at: http://www.xobni.com/

Well, NOW you know why I made the post, explaining the GPL in plain English!

AfterSense is a contextual add software that runs on your own server, and you can now get it 100% free!!!

Grab your FREE copy here: http://www.AfterSense.com/

Everyone LOVES Free Software, and this is AWESOME free software, that could make you TONS of money if used correctly!

I am sure that you have at some point in time come across the term GPL software.

Most people know that GPL software is free software, but, outside of that, eyes generally glaze over when they start looking at the full GPL, and with good reason! The latest version of the GPL licence, GPLv3, is a LONG, very "legal" document, which can only truly be understood by some top lawyer.

In this article, I want to try and spell out the GPL in plain English.

Let’s see how I do:

• Anybody can use the software for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial.
• Anybody can modify the software in any desired way for private use, without redistributing any code. This means you are able to use and customize the software to run any web site, commercial or non-commercial, with no requirement to contribute your modifications back to the software user community. Naturally, such contributions are welcome, but by no means required.
• Anybody can redistribute the software, in its original form or modified, as long as the distributed product comes with full source code and is also licensed under the GPL.

That is the quick, easy and dirty of it. There are TONS more to it, but, this is the core of what you need to know.

You might be wondering why on earth a Internet Marketing company, who actually SELLS commercial software would want to simplify what the GPL means…… Well, watch this blog over the next couple of days to find out!