[OT] New pricing

[Richard Gaskin]

Georges Malamoud wrote:

 > Could you tell me if I am correct interpreting this message ?
 >
 > - I can use the community edition on all platforms for free and
 > open source apps (except iOS because it is forbidden to publish
 > an open source app on App Store)
 > - If I want a commercial app (even less than 1 dollar) on any
 > platform or if I want an iOS app (even free), I need to use the
 > commercial version
 > - The commercial version will come with a uniform $500 annual fee
 > for all platforms (unless I continue with my previous fees)
 > - For example, as a developer of free apps on the App Store for iOS,
 > i'll have to pay $500 each year (more than now) except for the period
 > which was included in my pledge.
 >
 > Right ?

In broad terms that's more or less spot-on, with a clarification:

Rather than "commercial" the better word is "proprietary".

The GNU Public License places no requirements on free as in beer 
(gratis), focusing instead on free as in freedom (libre).

Software publishers choose the GPL when they want to provide The Four 
Freedoms, basically the freedom to examine the source code, share it, 
modify it, and share their modifications:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms_%28software%29>

The GPL doesn't prohibit anyone from putting a price tag on their 
executable software, and indeed even Richard Stallman himself used to 
sell diskettes with the GNU utilities on them.

They key provision is that any software that is distributed also have 
its source code freely available.

In the Internet Age, for all practical purposes this usually means that 
the executable will also be given away gratis, since even the most 
complex app is just a make file away from having it at no cost.

So while "commercial" and "proprietary" have similar implications with 
GPL-governed works, the distinction is less about economics (however 
substantial such effects might be, like allowing every school in the 
world to finally have the benefits of LiveCode at no cost to their 
already-slender budgets) than it is about contributing to the knowledge 
base of the world.

Choosing the GPL is like saying, "Not only do I want to share what I've 
learned with the world, but I want to do so in a way that guarantees all 
future generations will also benefit from that sharing."

Stallman's work on GCC and other tools that have provided a foundation 
for so much of the software in this world has been an important 
contribution, but I believe it's his non-technical invention, the GNU 
Public License, that will be remembered as one of the greatest 
inventions of all time.

One could argue that the modern Internet could not have become the 
revolutionary force it has without the great many free software packages 
that have led to its universal proliferation.

Today there are many other free software licenses, some of them more 
liberal like MIT, Apache, and CopyLeft.  But all of them gained 
inspiration and credibility from the foundation established by the GPL, 
and its requirements for the free sharing of knowledge.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
  Follow me on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/FourthWorldSys