Selling Glest

[wyvern]

Someones selling glest , its supposed to be free

[kingnothing]

Someones selling glest , its supposed to be free

according to the rules of GNU
anybody can sell it
read it carefully..............the articles says free to distribute but charge for them if you wish
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
so to disappoint you
but till now no one is selling.......and i guess no fan or gamer who enjoys this game will sell it

[ultifd]

Someones selling glest , its supposed to be free

according to the rules of GNU
anybody can sell it
read it carefully..............the articles says free to distribute but charge for them if you wish
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
so to disappoint you
but till now no one is selling.......and i guess no fan or gamer who enjoys this game will sell it

Actually someone was, if not now.
Anyways people still have to be careful when selling...I remember I discussed this with someone.
So basically people can, but it is not really worth it. etc.

[ElimiNator]

Click here...

[ultifd]

Yeah, the same person...

[kingnothing]

now what is the license of the game
if GNU no one can do anything
but if a freeware you can sue him and send a support ticket to ebay to remove these
this is a copy of freeware licenses
http://www.intelligent-digital.com/License-Freeware.htm

[Gabbe]

I wanted to sell my own mod of glest

[ultifd]

now what is the license of the game
if GNU no one can do anything
but if a freeware you can sue him and send a support ticket to ebay to remove these
this is a copy of freeware licenses
http://www.intelligent-digital.com/License-Freeware.htm

It is still GNU for Vanilla Glest, and yes you can not really do too much, unless if they were selling it in another way, or etc...

[John.d.h]

Okay, time to put this issue to bed.  Glest's code is licensed under the GNU General Public License and its art assets are Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike.  The GPL and CC-By-SA specifically allow software to be distributed for any price whatsoever, or none at all.  The Free Software Foundation even encourages for-profit sales of free software.  This issue has been brought up so many times on this forum already, apparently because people don't understand that the word "free" has two very different meanings in English.  First, there is free as in "for no charge", also called "gratis".  Second, there is free as in "exempt from external authority, interference, restriction, etc. ... independent; unrestricted"¹, also called "libre".  GPL software is often gratis, but does not have to be.  The only thing it has to be is libre.  That's the point, kids.  Glest can be given away for free and it can also be sold by anyone for any price the distributor chooses, as long as it remains libre.

/topic

[softcoder]

Actually it is ALSO required to distribute with copyright notices AND source code in order to be in compliance (see the whole issue with LinkSys WRT54GL and their use of embedded linux and not distributing the source code). So while you can sell it, you still must be in full compliance with the GPL (read the fine print). I'm not too sure people would buy the game if it is advertised as coming with source code, that would signal a few red flags (but I digress).

Here is a small clip from the GPL:

6. Conveying Non-Source Forms.
You may convey a covered work in object code form under the terms of sections 4 and 5, provided that you also convey the machine-readable Corresponding Source under the terms of this License, in one of these ways:

a) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product (including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by the Corresponding Source fixed on a durable physical medium customarily used for software interchange.
b) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product (including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by a written offer, valid for at least three years and valid for as long as you offer spare parts or customer support for that product model, to give anyone who possesses the object code either (1) a copy of the Corresponding Source for all the software in the product that is covered by this License, on a durable physical medium customarily used for software interchange, for a price no more than your reasonable cost of physically performing this conveying of source, or (2) access to copy the Corresponding Source from a network server at no charge.
c) Convey individual copies of the object code with a copy of the written offer to provide the Corresponding Source. This alternative is allowed only occasionally and noncommercially, and only if you received the object code with such an offer, in accord with subsection 6b.
d) Convey the object code by offering access from a designated place (gratis or for a charge), and offer equivalent access to the Corresponding Source in the same way through the same place at no further charge. You need not require recipients to copy the Corresponding Source along with the object code. If the place to copy the object code is a network server, the Corresponding Source may be on a different server (operated by you or a third party) that supports equivalent copying facilities, provided you maintain clear directions next to the object code saying where to find the Corresponding Source. Regardless of what server hosts the Corresponding Source, you remain obligated to ensure that it is available for as long as needed to satisfy these requirements.
e) Convey the object code using peer-to-peer transmission, provided you inform other peers where the object code and Corresponding Source of the work are being offered to the general public at no charge under subsection 6d.

Just my 2 cents.

[John.d.h]

Yes, that's also true.  I seem to remember something about TiVo doing something like that as well, where they used GPL software but somehow kept people from actually getting the source.  They could do that via a loophole in an old version of the GPL, but that's since been fixed in current versions.

I didn't mean to sticky this thread, but it ended up that way because it's split from the "Where did you hear about Glest?" topic.  In any case, let's leave it here for a couple days so everybody gets the idea, because this is something that gets brought up a lot.

[kingnothing]

this topic should be sticky so people can know it is free
since it is gnu it is legally to sell
but they say it is preferred to be sold with some extras and donate to the community/team who developed it
lol...........as if that will happen
did any body try to report the game at ebay that it is a freeware

[wciow]

It would seem that it is fairly difficult to sell anything that has been GNU'd since anyone who has brought a copy can legally redistribute it to anyone they want. The only way to effectively sell GNU is to provide it with closed source/unfree add ons. For example I could redistribute a version of the Glest engine with my own models and a license which states that the models are not free and cannot be resold/distributed without permission, however I would still be bound to allow the source code to be given away.

[kingnothing]

It would seem that it is fairly difficult to sell anything that has been GNU'd since anyone who has brought a copy can legally redistribute it to anyone they want. The only way to effectively sell GNU is to provide it with closed source/unfree add ons. For example I could redistribute a version of the Glest engine with my own models and a license which states that the models are not free and cannot be resold/distributed without permission, however I would still be bound to allow the source code to be given away.

you are talking as if every one who buys it or bought it knows that
all s/he will read a low cost game with out googling what is glest even
i bit he is selling the game as an exe file as he downloaded it from here not even an extra map

[wyvern]

I think glest should stay free or at least people should have to say that you can get it for free, after all anyone can release it without even giving credit to its creators

[Omega]

Basically, you can sell it if you really wanted to, though you'll still have to credit the Glest Team, and I wish great shame on anyone who would try to sell this game (seems to low to me... Just download the game, and then you can go selling it as if you owned it!).

Personally, that's why I prefer to release things under CC-BY-NC-SA (You can do whatever you want with it, as long as you credit me, its free, and you use a similar license). Of course, it is the Glest Team's choice.

The GPL does not restrict freedom to sell things commercially, just gives the freedom to redistribute, modify, etc;

[ElimiNator]

All the art is copy right I think, you can't sell it. My art is copy right.

[ultifd]

I personally don't like it, but it is allowed and possible.

Anyways, I just wanted to say that is how I feel, and basically probably everyone feels..., besides people that wants to sell...

[John.d.h]

All the art is copy right I think, you can't sell it. My art is copy right.

Err... do you know what copyright means?   It looks like you're going with some kind of pretense that "copyright" automatically equals "all rights reserved".  It doesn't.  Regarding Magitech assets, they're free to use as long as you attribute them, as Tucho has stated.  There are alternate versions of some of the assets that are for sale on (I believe) Turbosquid, which are not freely available.

[TheVoid]

Hello,

I am a software developer currently working on a game and am interested in Glest's models as part of our asset library.  I found Glest via the models for sale on Turbosquid and then landed on this post.  Our intention is to use the models as starter objects and modify the textures to fit nicely into our current art theme (which is also fantasy.)  We will not be using any of the source code from Glest, only portions of the art library.  So I have a few questions:

1) Can I simply download Glest and pull the assets directly into our pipeline and be legal?  (Crediting the Glest team of course.)
2) Should I instead purchase the models and license rights via Turbosquid? (Likely still crediting Glest, and the price for the packs is reasonable.)
3) Is this whole idea trash and I shouldn't event touch it due to the risk of royally ticking the Glest community off?

I don't want to rock the boat here. Our desire is to stay completely legal and give credit where credit is due.  However, we are not interested in divulging our game source (for obvious reasons!), but I'm unclear if we would need to if all we used were the art assets.

Glest appears to be an outstanding project, and when I saw the models on Turbosquid, I was excited to see such a diverse range of quality models for sale from the project.  Any guidance in this would be appreciated.  And regarldess, kudos to the team and best of luck to Glest's continued development.

-Eric R

[ultifd]

Hmm...

2) Should I instead purchase the models and license rights via Turbosquid? (Likely still crediting Glest, and the price for the packs is reasonable.)

Probably, yes. IMHO...

3) Is this whole idea trash and I shouldn't event touch it due to the risk of royally ticking the Glest community off?

Well, I can say that it isn't trash, and since you are at least giving credit...and asking. The risk shouldn't be too much of one.

I don't want to rock the boat here. Our desire is to stay completely legal and give credit where credit is due.  However, we are not interested in divulging our game source (for obvious reasons!), but I'm unclear if we would need to if all we used were the art assets.

Hmm, you probably would still need to distribute the source, unfortunately. "In the end." 

Anyways, others will probably actually answer your questions and etc...
Thanks for asking at least  and Good luck regardless of the outcome of this. 

And regarldess, kudos to the team and best of luck to Glest's continued development.

Yeah, everyone does. Unfortunately, they are too busy these days. Good thing we got our "2 forks"...

[John.d.h]

My understanding of the issue is that you could keep your source code proprietary (not very popular here, but it's your right ), but you would have to release the derivative art assets under an open license.  If you purchase them from Turbosquid, you can probably do whatever you like with them and keep them proprietary as well.  However, take all of this with a grain of salt, as I'm not an expert on the issue.  Your best bet to get an absolute definitive answer is to ask Tucho, the original artist who made most/all of the 3D assets that come with Glest.

[-Archmage-]

You can send Tucho a PM, or use other methods such as his site email: tucho"at"artbytucho.com.
Good luck.

[ultifd]

You can send Tucho a PM, or use other methods such as his site email: tucho"at"artbytucho.com.
Good luck.

Yes, contacting Tucho would be helpful.
You should probably do both TheVoid.

[titi]

Maybe we should sell it too?   
If people really want to pay for this, let them do this lol.

But of course only under the terms of the GPL and CC-BY-SA 3.0!
1.) Sourcecode must be included
2.) GPL license text must be included
3.) Creative Commons text must be included.
...

But its allowed to sell it and I think its ok! For people who don't have an internet connection or very slow internet it might be a good deal if someone offers a prepared CD for them. I just ask myself who of these "no internet guys" has access to ebay ?
( Even Linux is sold on ebay !!!  )