Clear legal information about when licensing is needed

[Sontaran]

While Linux Mint is called "free software", not everything is under GPL, creating some complex situations, I think.

Question: If I want to start a business -- in Canada -- migrating commercial offices' computers from Windows to Linux Mint (full version, not OEM) , do I need to pay license fees or royalties to anyone?

What if I don't charge for the OS itself, just for the labour time in installation and configuration?

Also, does Linux Mint offer paid support services like Canonical does?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer these questions definitively.

[AlbertP]

Question: If I want to start a business -- in Canada -- migrating commercial offices' computers from Windows to Linux Mint (full version, not OEM) , do I need to pay license fees or royalties to anyone?

No. There are version without some patented audio/video codecs for use in the USA and Japan. But in other countries all our software is free to redistribute.

The difference between OEM and normal version is, that OEM allows the user to choose username and password at first boot, instead of during install.

What if I don't charge for the OS itself, just for the labour time in installation and configuration?

That is not a problem as far as I know. Charging a little money for the disc itself - but not for the software on the disc - is also allowed for vendors of Mint discs.

Also, does Linux Mint offer paid support services like Canonical does?

No.