If you follow the "Support this project" link from OpenG.org <http://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?group_id=52435>, you will see the following:
-------------------- Information provided (by this user or project's admin) about donations:
Any money donated will go to maintaining the OpenG.org website and hosting group meetings. This costs approximately 1000 dollars (US) per year. If people would like money to go to the development of specific projects and/or features, please email me prior to donating funds. A full account of how funds are spent, will be made publicly available.
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Mostly, people contribute to projects that have (monetary or other) value to them and their projects. But, if people would like to pay for new features that are important to them and they would rather spend money than time, we are open to that idea as well.
-Jim
Enrique Vargas wrote:
>>1) You get what you pay for; if it's cheap or free it's crap.
Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but, if they want to pay money for it, they can. (Give it as a donation to OpenG. )
What I am trying to say is that, AFAIK, the term "free" in the open source philosophy is not one of "free of cost":
"Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software" (from gnu.org)
The fact that you can obtain the OpenG tools and code at no cost should then be an added benefit. If that do not make them confortable, then they can always pay for it. That is not in violation of the open source philosophy. (I am pretty sure Jim and the team of developers can use the money for the open source cause. I won't even mind if they decided to get some beer: their work is priceless, but that's just me.)
Of course, I have no idea what is Jim's or the other OpenG developers' policy on receiving money. I am just thinking out loud.
Regards;
Enrique Vargas www.visecurity.com
