On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 11:38 AM, Mally <ma...@tklm.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
> ?Hi Chris
>
> I have reservations about this. It could easily backfire on you personally
> or turn out to be a traumatic event, particularly if it turns out to be
> more
> of a confrontation than a reasonable discussion. What are the odds of the
> latter do you think?
>
> I wouldn't want anyone to go to jail over enforcing the GPL :)
> I think the same could be achieved (at least partially) by sending the guy
> individual messages or an agreed collective letter on behalf of all of the
> FG community, but having said that, I do actually agree that face-to-face
> can ultimately be the most effective option - but at the same time, with
> somone who is completely unknown, it is a risk.
>
> It's possible of course that the gentleman in question is reading the
> forum,
> in which case I would just ask that he take some time to reflect seriously
> about the ethics of what he is doing, and attempt to find within his better
> nature the capacity to change the way he is going about this.
>
There's little chance of that. FlightProSim seems to be a scam, though it's
not clear who is being scammed. It's not us; after all, we're giving it
away, though you might argue that he is besmirching the good name of
FlightGear. It's possible some users are getting scammed, but I think the
ultimate victims will be the "affiliates" in the multi-level marketing
scheme. This guy has hit on free software as the vehicle for the scam; if
not it would be cleaning products, cell phone plans, water filters, matches,
whatever.
>
> >From my viewpoint, it is not about "giving a bit back". The main issues
> for
> me are that potential purchasers should be able to make a fully informed
> choice, that they should know completely what they are buying, and that he
> should comply fully with the GPL, i.e. by charging a fee ONLY for the
> physical act of transferring a copy of FG and optionally for a warranty if
> he wants to provide the same. If he did this and made it clear that this
> was
>
That language from the GPL refers only to the act of supplying the source
code. There used to be a time when the only practical way to get a copy of
the emacs source was on 9 track tape, so the costs could be considerable.
The GPL says nothing at all about the permitted price of the object code or
any derived product.
There is an idea that, because the cost of the source code is free (or
nearly so), the value of a complete product or distribution is close to
zero. This is patently false; you just have to look at all the questions
that people ask about building fgfs from scratch, and all the effort that
has gone into making this process automatic, to see that a pre-built package
has a lot of value. Not to mention the value of a real "professional"
version of fgfs...
what he was doing in his main web page/advertising, i.e. clearly informing
> potential purchasers that they were paying for these services rather than
> buying a product, then I would be very happy to see him succeed in his
> venture, and I'm sure he would be providing a valuable service.
>
> In the case of FlightProSim, there is probably very little there that
cannot be obtained for free. But that's not a GPL violation, nor is it
illegal; it's the very essence of capitalism :)
Tim
> Mally
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Wilkinson" <blobster...@yahoo.com.au>
> To: "FlightGear developers discussions"
> <flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>
> Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 5:59 AM
> Subject: Re: [Flightgear-devel] FlightProSim advert on FaceBook
>
>
> This looks to be more of a moral issue than a legal one.
>
> I'll tell you what I'll do about this. I was born and raised in
> Christchurch,
> where this guy operates from, and I will be visiting the city in a months
> time.
> Perhaps I should pay the guy a visit?
>
> I wanna know where this guy gets off taking all YOUR hard work, and
> PROFITING
> from it, with NOTHING returned to the flightgear community. The legality of
> his
> actions could be debated in a court of law forever, but perhaps a bit of
> face
> time to directly express the sentiments of the flightgear community with
> the
> dude might convince him that there are REAL people who consider his actions
> immoral - you guys are more than just names attached to code commits on the
> internet, and I think this guy needs to be reminded that without your
> efforts his little endeavour would amount to NOTHING.
>
> I'm sure with some 'friendly persuasion' I can convince the guy to give a
> bit
> back. After all if he can help the efforts to improve flightgear, that will
> have
> a flow-on effect for him. He scratch our back, we scratch his...
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris Wilkinson, YBBN/BNE.
>
>
>
>
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>
>
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