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Free Blender
To the readers of LWN.net: One thing that I've been wishing the Free Software world has had for some time is a full-featured 3d modelling/rendering/animation package. (Well, we sort of have rendering in the form of POV-Ray, which isn't really free software but is close.) Now there's a chance at getting a very good one: Blender. The thing is, to make Blender free, it won't be free. The Blender Foundation needs to raise $100k (euros) in order to liberate the Blender sources. They are now accepting donations and memberships (for $50) to the Blender Foundation to help finance this. If you're at all interested in 3d on Linux, you should go to www.blender3d.com and take a look around. And, ask yourself if having such a program as Free Software is worth $50 to you. Consider that proprietary programs of similar quality cost more than that anyway. (Indeed, compare, for instance, how much money you paid when you bought Quake 3 for Linux-- or for Windows for that matter, if you keep that around "for games" or for other purposes.) And, then, help buy the world a free Blender. Binaries of the current version of Blender are available for at least Linux, FreeBSD, IRIX, and Solaris (as well as for another, very popular, lesser operating system). Of course, once the Blender Foundation raises the money, the source code will be available; for now, only binaries are. -Rob rknop@pobox.com (Log in to post comments)
Y'know, if Lindows had put their money into this... Posted Jul 25, 2002 12:06 UTC (Thu) by leonbrooks (guest, #1494) [Link] ...and other projects like WINE wholeheartedly instead of fiddling around inventing Yet Another Packaging System and differentiating their Linux distro by running it as root, they would have done themselves and everyone else a huge favour. I wonder if they have any spare change left to keep LWN afloat?
Free Blender Posted Jul 26, 2002 17:09 UTC (Fri) by mackdav (guest, #2842) [Link] I have a problem with this kind of drive -- one is left with the feeling that the software is being held hostage, and that some arbitrary target has been dreamed up in an attempt to extort money out of the community.The other problem is that there is no guarantee of return. I've used Blender (I even own the Blender Manual, ordered at great expense to Canada -- how many Blender users can say that?) and I can't honestly see myself giving $50 or even $5 without some guarantee that the source code would make it into the GPL light of day. Suppose contributions stall at 75000 euros? What then? Do I get my money back? If I give ID Software $50 for Doom, then I am guaranteed that I will have Doom. The Free-Blender folks have offered no such guarantee.
Free Blender Posted Jul 26, 2002 21:11 UTC (Fri) by GreyWizard (subscriber, #1026) [Link] [...] one is left with the feeling that the software is being held hostage, and that some arbitrary target has been dreamed up in an attempt to extort money out of the community.That's one way to look at it. Another is that the community is willing to pool resources to pay for the development of a useful product. While software ought to be free (as in freedom) it will never really be free (as in cost). Those who own the copyright on Blender are not obligated to offer reasonable license terms to anyone, any more than they were obligated to create the software in the first place. I see nothing wrong with changing their minds with money, if it can be done. Getting your money back if there are insufficient donations on the other hand is a real problem, though not one that can't be solved by a trusted institution willing to take it on. If this becomes another method by which free software developers can earn a living everyone wins.
Free Blender - or meet thy Doom(tm) Posted Jul 31, 2002 5:07 UTC (Wed) by DeletedUser2990 ((unknown), #2990) [Link] I have a problem with this kind of drive -- one is left with the feeling that the software is being held hostageIn a very real sense it is. ..and that some arbitrary target has been dreamed up in an attempt to extort money out of the community.Aren't you being a little silly? Ton Roosendaal (Blender creator) as "Ruthless Exploiter Of The CG Community"? Or how about, "Ton Implements Evil Scheme To Fleece Wannabe CG Artists"? Doesn't really ring true does it? It might be better if you went to The Blender Foundation and actually read all of the documents there, yes all of them. Then take a trip to a real "community" - Elysiun - and see the positive attitudes to the 'free blender' initiative on the forums there. Prior to Ton's Foundation announcement the attitudes on the site to open source were somewhat negative, even hostile (as you might expect from users of proprietary software). It's amusing then, that you should have such a negative attitude when people who otherwise could care less about free/non-proprietary software issues are now embracing the idea of 'free software' so enthusiastically. I've used Blender (I even own the Blender Manual, ordered at great expense to Canada -- how many Blender users can say that?)Congratulations, I'm sure your contribution was appreciated, just like everyone else who bought the manual, including me. You wouldn't be suggesting that Linux users are cheap-skates would you? ..What then? Do I get my money back?What if the LWN donations don't have an impact in the long run? Shouldn't you, or others, be asking for a guarantee also? An open source Blender would win more hearts and minds for the free software cause than you might think - given the proprietary nature of the computer graphics industry. The 3D field alone is riddled with patents. It's worth the risk surely. Communities stick together through thick and thin don't they? At least I think that's the general idea..
Free Blender - or meet thy Doom(tm) Posted Aug 2, 2002 14:48 UTC (Fri) by mackdav (guest, #2842) [Link] Aren't you being a little silly? Ton Roosendaal (Blender creator) as "Ruthless Exploiter Of The CG Community"? Or how about, "Ton Implements Evil Scheme To Fleece Wannabe CG Artists"? Of course I'm being silly -- it's pure hyperbole. Still, the arbitrary number strikes me as suspicious.
...What then? Do I get my money back?What if the LWN donations don't have an impact in the long run? Shouldn't you, or others, be asking for a guarantee also? There is, I think, a very real difference there -- in the case of LWN, I am (would be) paying money in return for the services already rendered, and the LWN editors have left absolutely no promise that any money received would guarantee future issues. On the other hand, I am being asked to contribute to an attempt to purchase something -- that something being the freedom of a certain bit of code. If the purchase does not happen, ie the transaction is not completed, someone has taken my money and not returned the promised good. One could almost characterise the transaction as fraudulent. In my opinion, I have already made a purchase from the Blender group -- I paid money in exchange for the manual. Money very well spent, I believe I got good value for it. The thing of it is, if this goal is not met, then that money is going to be lurking around somewhere and will be used for something. Since it was my contribution towards a specific goal, I don't think I'm entirely out of line in wanting a say in where it would go (ie back in my pocket, where I can target another goal if so desired) if the specific goal was not achieved.
Free Blender Posted Aug 1, 2002 21:13 UTC (Thu) by gswoods (subscriber, #37) [Link] At some point, free software advocates have to get real. By this I mean,it is fairly obvious that all software can never be free (as in free beer). If it were, all software developers would starve to death. No company has ever made a profit selling support services for free software; it's not going to happen. There has to be some kind of incentive in order to take on long-term, complex software projects. Expecting every developer the world over to donate his or her time for free forever is just not realistic. Therefore, neither is a goal of totally free (as in beer) software. To me, free as in 'freedom' is far more important than free as in 'beer'. I do agree, though, that some kind of reassurance that you can get your
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