Hi Heiko, On Tuesday 06 October 2009 08:16:11 am Heiko Schulz wrote: > > That's one the "best" article I found about ProFlightSim: > http://ezinearticles.com/?Flight-Pro-Sim-is-the-Best-Simulator&id=2813712 >
Interesting, I actually decided to leave a comment behind, in response to this article, explaining that Flight Pro Sim is actually a repackaged version of FlightGear and that, while this is legal, we were actually hoping that our communication with the Flight Pro Sim team would be more open and less secretive on their part. I also stated being quite flattered by their praise regarding the accurate position of sun, moon, stars, and planets (since that was originally my code, except for the stars), :-). I think it turned out to be a relatively positive comment, and I'm really surprised that it still isn't posted there yet. All comments are moderated.... In actual fact, the above comment is quite the way I feel about this; I have no problem with somebody repackaging, re-branding and selling FlightGear, as long as the GPL is honored. Mainly, as long as the GPL is honored, I'm not too concerned about somebody making huge loads of cash behind our backs. Just to put it in perspective. I'm sometimes amazed at FlightGear's popularity. Yet the commercial re-branded versions are still extremely obscure. So, the majority will much sooner be drawn toward us than toward a competitor, and if a few copies are sold, the people buying them are completely free to distribute their copy, and eventually may find out about FlightGear itself. So, if the number of sales of a slightly improved FlightGear remains limited, I wouldn't have too many problems with that. Simply because the nature of the license and our popularity would correct the situation rather quickly. Basically, I'm assuming that you would have to live on another planet to get interested in Flight Simulation, buy Flight Pro Sim, and not eventually stumble upon one web page or another referring to FlightGear, or making the connection between FlightGear and Flight Pro Sim. IF, on the other hand, the GPL license would not be honored than it wouldn't matter with license we choose because the perpetrator wouldn't care anyhow. So, in essence, I believe that in our current situation the GPL is still our best option, guaranteeing our basic freedom. My impression is that the person/people behind the Flight Pro Sim product are reasonably genuine in what they are doing, but that they have chosen a business model that is rather unfortunate; not only for us, but also something that would hurt themselves in the long run. This might not not necessarily be deliberate, but might be something borne out of inexperience. Since it isn't clear from their website that their product is an adaptation of FlightGear, imagine the disappointment of a buyer who as just found out. Now, in contrast, consider that I would be interested in a product called FlightGear Pro, from a reseller who clearly mentions up front that this program is a commercial adaptation of FlightGear, but with the added bonus of having a nice shell around it connecting all the loose bells and whistles in addition to having a knowledgeable help desk. Now somebody knowingly buying a program like that would never be disappointed due to the link between the free open source FlightGear program, and the commercially repackaged FlightGear-pro. And, likewise, I don't think that any of us developers would have a problem with a commercial distribution that is adding so many bells and whistles and service to the program Cheers, Durk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Come build with us! The BlackBerry(R) Developer Conference in SF, CA is the only developer event you need to attend this year. Jumpstart your developing skills, take BlackBerry mobile applications to market and stay ahead of the curve. Join us from November 9 - 12, 2009. Register now! http://p.sf.net/sfu/devconference _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list Flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel
