From: Ralf M. <ral...@al...> - 2009-06-27 06:46:23
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Rob wrote: > On Friday 26 June 2009 11:34:07 pm Aaron Lovelace wrote: > >> Users must still accept the GPL once they >> download it >> > > While many Windows free software developers seem to require this, it's > actually not a requirement of the GPL. I'm no lawyer, but at > http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html you can read this: > > 9. Acceptance Not Required for Having Copies. > > You are not required to accept this License in order to > receive or run a copy of the Program. > > So to download, install or even run the program, users don't need to accept > anything. The only action that triggers the requirements of the GPL is > transmitting the code to someone else, and the acceptance is automatic in > that it's a violation to transmit it without doing so under the terms of > the license. > > >> It is generally teenagers and young guys who want to "make beats" with >> their computer. They are generally not serious musicians, nor do they >> generally know anything about GPL, SourceForge, Linux, etc. 98% of >> > > While it appears to me that you're operating entirely within the terms of > the GPL here -- you DON'T need to give out source unless you've given > someone a binary, you DON'T need to keep the same name for the program as > long as credit is included with the program, you CAN charge money for it as > long as you don't try to prevent your customers from subsequently changing > it and/or giving it away for free, etc. -- and I don't share the opinion of > others that you're trying to run a con here since I remember your original > post talking about distributing it with your own samples, you should be > aware that if your fork attains any kind of popularity, these mailing lists > and any related forums that may be out there are going to bear the brunt of > these non-technical users demanding support. That's what the big deal is. > And that's where public relations comes into play. > > For example, you may notice that the first thing you see when you google > "Beat Machine Pro" is not your website, but a similar discussion to this > one on the linuxmusicians.com forums. I'm sure you'll address that with > marketing as you work on launching the product, but you may not be aware > that the GIMP, Audacity and OpenOffice communities have experienced this > before. Vendors such as "Luxuriousity" commercialized their software much > as you're doing here, but then they directed their customers to get free > support from the original developers, sometimes falsely representing those > developers as their employees, resulting in angry customers and a seething, > justifiably hostile community. > > It may or may not be legal (though I'm pretty sure "Luxuriousity" crossed > the line by claiming the original programs were "unstable test versions" of > their final product), but will still give your product and company a bad > name if you do it. And by "a bad name" I mean "anyone who googles Beat > Machine Pro will see a lot of words like 'complaint' and 'con job'." > Again, though they're a smoking crater now, google for Luxuriousity as an > example. > > In the end, it may just be worth your time to put a link to the LMMS > homepage with the text "Powered by LMMS" down by your "Runs on Windows > XP/Vista" logos. The kids with the oddly-angled baseball caps won't even > notice or will think it's your hosting company Small printed like this in Germany still is a go by the law! I'm nearly sure that Aaron is outcasting against European law, even if it's fine with the GPL. > and still hand over mom's > credit card, and no one will be able to say you're defrauding people by > selling free software without revealing its true nature. You make some > money, graciously help out with support for your own users, give your > changes back at such time as you make any, and everyone's happy or at least > not grumbling too much. > > I can't speak for the LMMS community because I've only been using it for a > month, but that would be my pragmatic approach if I were trying to be a > value-added reseller of free software. > > Rob > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > _______________________________________________ > LMMS-devel mailing list > LMM...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/lmms-devel > > -- Secret of Tux: http://images.wallaceandgromit.com/user_uploads/forum_thumbnails/5/75/355.jpg "Gromit bit me" says HMV dog: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/03_03/GomitHMVPA_468x319.jpg |