Our school is wanting to switch from a mix of Windows 8 laptops and Chrome OS laptops to all running Ubuntu 20.04, we got a few working and running as a test and there running amazing, what we were wondering was if we needed any special licensing as we did with the others or if we were good to go with just installing Ubuntu on the rest of them?
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You already have a fine answer, but I wanted to comment. The answer is "No" and that's one of the great things about Linux. You may want to pay for support, but you can use Ubuntu all you want and need no special licensing. The various big companies offer paid support - which might be something you're interested in considering. – KGIII Aug 25 '20 at 22:33
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5Does this answer your question? Under what license is Ubuntu? Can it be legally modified and distributed? – Nmath Aug 25 '20 at 22:33
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@KG The majority of software in Ubuntu use very permissive licenses, but to imply you can do whatever you want without restriction isn't quite accurate – Nmath Aug 25 '20 at 22:37
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Ubuntu also will accept voluntary donations(not required) of varying amounts – crip659 Aug 25 '20 at 23:02
1 Answers
From https://ubuntu.com/desktop
Ubuntu has always been free to download, use and share. We believe in the power of open source software; Ubuntu could not exist without its worldwide community of voluntary developers.
From https://ubuntu.com/licensing:
All of the application software installed by default is free software. In addition, we install some hardware drivers that are available only in binary format, but such packages are clearly marked in the restricted component.
Anybody, including you and your organization, can freely install Ubuntu as much as you like without purchasing any licenses, ever.
- In this case, "free software" is a specific term, meaning that you can download and modify the software source code without asking anybody's permission, and you can redistribute the software to others without asking anybody's permission.
An enterprise-wide roll-out of Ubuntu may look different from a roll-out of chromebooks or Windows laptops: Hardware incompatibility, Admin access, and enterprise infrastructure can be quite different from a Windows or Chrome environment. Test, test, test because students and other users will find your weak spots!

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