Hi all, I'm not sure if these kind of auctions we've been noticing are real GPL violations. This one doesn't make any note of the fact that "their" simulator is Free Software. And it doesn't mention the GPL nor that the source is available - which is a violation in my opinion.
Nevertheless, what bugs me on these auctions is not that they are making money with FG (if they are?). It's actually they way they do it, since most of these free-riders are trying to trick potential customers to believe FG was a commercial flight sim. An they're clearly making misleading statements about the features (e.g. the screenshot of the landing on San Jose). So, to make an end to this kind of deception, why don't we display a small message on the start-up screen like this: FlightGear is free software and distributed under the terms of the GPL . Visit us at http://www.flightgear.org That way we make a clear statement where the software originates. If we hard-code it, the average "reseller" won't be able to change it. And if he does we have something to clearly prove a violation (if we had a copy). Actually the fact that people are trying to market FlightGear actually is the best proof of how sophisticated and professional FG has become. Take it as a compliment to all the developers who put so much effort in this great simulator. And maybe we can learn a bit on "marketing" from these people, too? Just my 2 cents, Mark Curtis Olson wrote: > Someone just directed me to the following ebay vendor selling FlightGear. > > http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Realistic-Professional-Aviation-Flight-Simulator_W0QQitemZ260053619883QQihZ016QQcategoryZ80336QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem > > At first glance I thought, no big deal, just another person selling a > distribution of FlightGear. But wait a second: this person is selling > it as a "digital download". So they are charging people money for the > right to download flightgear, when they could just as easily (well a > lot more easily) download it for free. > > The more I think about it, the more I have a problem with this. If > they were selling FlightGear on CD, or on floppies, or on reels of > tape, or punch cards, or even printed versions of the source code, I > would have absolutely no problem. That is specifically allowed for in > the GPL, and the vendor can set whatever price they want. > > But here they are not selling anything. Can we call what they are > selling a distribution? The rights to download something that is > already available for free download? > > So my questions: > > 1. Am I right to be concerned about this? > > 2. Is there any outright GPL violation going on here? > > 3. If there is a GPL violation, how should we go about addressing it > (and legitimate, legal methods only please.) > > Thanks, > > Curt. > -- > Curtis Olson - University of Minnesota - FlightGear Project > http://baron.flightgear.org/~curt/ > <http://baron.flightgear.org/%7Ecurt/> http://www.humanfirst.umn.edu/ > http://www.flightgear.org > Unique text: 2f585eeea02e2c79d7b1d8c4963bae2d > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT > Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your > opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash > http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Flightgear-devel mailing list > Flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list Flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel
