All software that comes with ROCK is free. Usually ROCK packages are distributed in source form. ROCK Linux packages come with a license flag which makes it possible to build, for example, a strict GPL distribution only. There is no other distribution like ROCK Linux . Commercial Linux distributions target the desktop user, on one end, and servers on the other.
ROCK easily competes with the latter for experienced system administrators.
The latter is extremely important. Joe User ROCK Linux is obviously too powerful for the average user. To prevent getting a negative image, because of newbies trying, creating havoc and leaving in disgust, general warnings should be given. ROCK is a learning experience. Getting it working may take anything from days to months, depending on the user's initial knowledge.