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Freeware, open source, shareware ?

 
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coscos



Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 2
Location: France
PostPosted: 5th May 2008, Mon, 18:34    Post subject: Freeware, open source, shareware ? Reply with quote
I searched in the forum messages but could not find the information. I would like to know what kind of future RawTherapee will have.

Will it continue to be supported by donations, while being free ?

Will it become open source or, on the contrary, will it become a shareware application (or a dual-licence - lite version for free and a paid version with more features) ?

I'm asking these questions by pure curiosity. I use RawTherapee on a Linux machine and it is really great. I appreciated a lot also the manual, which explains clearly many concepts of image manipulation. I'm just afraid that one day, if RT becomes a paid for application, I will stop using it.

Every time I advocate the use of RawTherapee on flickr discussion threads, it reminds me that I don't know what will happen in the near future. Can I advertise it as a "free" application ?

Does anyone know the answer to the question of RT pricing strategy evolution ?
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newmikey



Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 29
PostPosted: 5th May 2008, Mon, 19:57    Post subject: Re: Freeware, open source, shareware ? Reply with quote
coscos wrote:

I'm asking these questions by pure curiosity. I use RawTherapee on a Linux machine and it is really great. I appreciated a lot also the manual, which explains clearly many concepts of image manipulation. I'm just afraid that one day, if RT becomes a paid for application, I will stop using it.


I am a Linux user too and I cannot help wondering why you seem to be worried? There should be no problem running paid-for software on a Linux box, in fact there are many commercial applications available for Linux.

Gabor has not released the sourcecode which is his good right, he would like to (I suppose) one day earn a little money from this app which again is his good right.

We as users then choose whether to pay Gabor for his considerable efforts or not(and stop using RT) and that choice is our good right.

There should be no philosophical or ideological barrier that would stop you from using RT. The only barrier is price: if acceptable, one buys the software and uses it - if unacceptable, one searches a different solution (like with Photoshop which I find unacceptably expensive)

I love open source dearly, but from a philosophy of choice, multiple softwares with different licenses are good for the user.

I choose to pay Gabor as his asking price is more than reasonable and his product excells and I believe he will be going places. Aren't those 2 criteria enough?

I for one, wish onto him what happened to the original programmers of PaintShop Pro, back when it was still shareware. They worked a labour of love for years, getting ripped of by crackers, serialz etc. but they finally got bought out by Corel and made good. Gabor certainly deserves the same.

Mike
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fma



Joined: 06 Sep 2007
Posts: 127
Location: Grenoble (France)
PostPosted: 6th May 2008, Tue, 06:34    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gabor also said that if he could not develop RT anymore, he will publish the source code.

So, except the fact you may don't want to pay for it, don't worry about the future: in any case, RT will continue to exist.
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Frédéric
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coscos



Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 2
Location: France
PostPosted: 6th May 2008, Tue, 18:16    Post subject: Reply with quote
"Gabor also said that if he could not develop RT anymore, he will publish the source code"

Thank you Frédéric for this information, it was exactly what I was searching for. This is one of the most important aspects of having the source code available if the developer cannot continue working on a project. Example:

As a user of the excellent GQView, I recently found out that the author and maintainer of the code cannot be contacted any more (last version is from the end of 2006). However, since the source code was available, someone began a new branch (geeqie Image Viewer) and, if all goes well, it is likely that GQView users will be able to continue to use future versions of this program.

Mike: I see your point and I agree with most of what you said. However, I'm not sure that the dream of all the excellent programmers and algorithm inventors, like Gabor clearly is, is to be some day bought by a big company. But maybe I'm wrong.

Cosmin
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