Re:POV-Ray (was: Lua logo rendering in POV-Ray)

[Philippe Lhoste <PhiLho@...>]

Markus wrote:
> --- In lua-l@y..., Philippe Lhoste <PhiLho@g...> wrote:
> > I downloaded POV-Ray 3.5 when it was released.
> > As some of you may know, it is a free, open-source ray-tracer, 
> 
> This may be slightly off-topic, but POV-Ray 3.5 is not
> open-source or Free Software. POV-Ray 4 may become
> open-source, though, eventually.
> 
> More info at:
>   http://www.povray.org/povlegal.html
>   in Section "WHY ISN'T POV-RAY OPEN SOURCE?":
> 
>   "POV- Ray(tm) will remain on this existing license
>   until we do a full re-write (which is intended for v4),
>   at which time a new license will be instituted that is
>   far more liberal in terms of reuse."

Not slightly, totally off-topic :-) Well, traffic is slow anyway...

Since the POV-Ray team itself claims it non open source, I will take their
word on it :-)
However, the claim is "While the POV-Ray&#8482; source code is freely
available, it isn't 'open' according to the currently popular definition of the
term (meaning that it isn't available to create derivative works other than
fully functional versions of POV-Ray)."

The key is "according to the currently popular definition of the term".

My definition of the term is rather "the source is available and you can
recompile it and even patch it". They actually welcome patches as they can be
integrated in the next version.

Same for free, the English is so ambiguous about it that it is usually
followed by the sentence "Free as in Free Speech not Free as in Free Beer". In
French, we use "libre" and "gratuit".
Well, I use the term as in "free beer", ie. it won't cost a cent.

Regards.

-- 
--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--
Philippe Lhoste (Paris -- France)
Professional programmer and amateur artist
http://jove.prohosting.com/~philho/
--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--=#=--

GMX - Die Kommunikationsplattform im Internet.
http://www.gmx.net