Incredible

[LewisM]

I think this needs to be reported to eBay - someone SELLING free software???? The images they show IS Stellarium...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3D-Astronomy-Astronomical-Telescope-Program-for-Windows-/330875506628?pt=AU_software&hash=item4d09b78fc4&_uhb=1#ht_20561wt_1037

[Octane]

There's nothing stopping anyone from selling GPL software.

H

[RickS]

Yep, provided they distribute a copy of the GPL with the software and are willing to provide the source code to any customer who requests it.

[LewisM]

Well, there you go. I thought it was dodgy. Learnt something.

Then again, enough people wouldn't know it was free and where to find it.

[Octane]

Rick, I wrote that in my original post, and, then snipped it, hah. :)

H

[RickS]

Most people who sell GPL software actually add value (support, services, additional proprietary software components, etc.) I suppose there are some that don't do any of this and take advantage of uninformed customers. It seems a bit sleazy to me but it's not illegal...

Most consumer electronics gear you buy these days will have Linux and other open source components inside. In theory you can ask the manufacturer to give you the source code and they have to hand it over (at least all the GPL bits and any modifications they have made to them).

[RickS]

I wasn't sure whether to rattle on about it either, H :D I guess I feel obliged to spread the word as somebody who has made a living out of building hardware products using embedded Linux for the past decade and a bit.

[Octane]

Sweet. :)

H

[lacad01]

Same subject was brought up a couple years ago:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=747606#post747606

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi
There is nothing illegal about that AD. The GPL licence allows a small charge to be made for the preparation of the distibution media. $10.00 would be closer to the cost. It has been discussed many times by the project team and we have no problem.

This ad is selling a disc with Stellarium and many of the associated extras that can take ages to download. I don't know what version it is but I would hope that it is the latest version. Looking at the pictures the last two are views I have not seen before and are not part of the current release as far as I know. I will need to look into it. I would not bother selling on Ebay at that price. It looks like extremely good value for the money.

My version includes the latest Windows stable version compiled on the day of posting, Plus the full catalogue of stars 1.2GB, Extra Landscapes, Extra textures, Extra Nebulae and a comprehensive ssystem.ini with loads of comets in addition to the standard item. I also include the Latest Mac version and Linux source.

but if anyone wants a DVD with the latest. I can send them a copy. My prodution cost would be :
$0.50 for the disc
$1.45 for the CD mailer
$1.90 for local postage
$5.00 for OS postage
No charge for the trip to the PO 7Km @ 50c/KM, cost of ink for the printer. Depreciation of my computer and printer, internet etc.

The ads that really annoyed us were those that collected a fee and gave you the URL to download from

Barry
__________________

[Barrykgerdes]

I have had a good look at the descriptions in that add, particularly the menu and the final 2 screen shots and it is obviously a compilation of someones private branch and looks much better than the standard version. I have ordered a copy to see what it is actually like.

Barry

[Barrykgerdes]

As a matter of interest I purchased the "planetarium" program from that advertiser. The description intimated that it was complete with all the add ons and also a copy of Virgo.

The goods arrived today 18 days after placing the order, Supplier is in Sydney like me,

The program is version 0.10.2 of stellarium (two years old) not the latest version as I expected. It is very poor value for money. It could have been downloaded easier. If it had the star catalogues and add ons it would have been reasonable value but without, useless.

My advice " don't buy anything from this seller"

Barry

[gary]

Hi Barry,

Not quite correct. :)

Version 3 of the GPL says nothing about a conveyancing fee, if it is charged, having to be "small".

It says -
"You may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey, and you may offer support or warranty protection for a fee."
See http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html

As Richard Stallman himself often stated at public lectures -
'Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer”. '

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) have this to say -


See also -
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Gary

Yes the actual terms of the licence (version 2 is distributed with Stellarium but I don't think anyone reads it) do not specify any limits to "handling charges or warrantees etc.". I was only quoting what we usually say when someone asks if they can copy the program.

It was really to stress that "why pay an excessive price for a stock copy old version of the program when you can get the real thing with the latest improvements for the price of your internet connection."

As I said before. If anyone wants a copy of Stellarium on DVD (2GB of data). I can provide it including all the extras for the price of postage and the cost of making the disk (about $2.00, ink for the printer is the big expense). If you only have a slow internet connection, downloading the Star files (1.2GB) can take days!

Barry

[mithrandir]

Barry, speaking of large catalog files, is there any news on Stellarium being able to use catalogs like UCAC4? Or user defined catalogs?

[Barrykgerdes]

As far as I know that won't happen. Catalogues need to be prepared for Stellarium to read and I don't know of anyone doing this. It was hard enough to get the Hipparcos catalogues updated to fix errors that have been known for years and there could be GPL licence problems.

Barry