On 06/10/09 17:13, Sylvain wrote:
> I used to be a pov fan, but I am lost with the licences issues (open-source, not
> open-source, etc...) and, by reading the newsgroup over the years, do not know
> where this software is heading to.

	I've been on this news server for a while. For long periods, I 
exclusively just read off topic. Yet even I have a better idea of where 
POV-Ray is headed than you seem to.

	In terms of release cycles, I don't know how this compares with 
previous releases, so I can't comment.

	As for the licensing issues, I have some comments:

1. If you look into the context of why the license is as it is, you'd 
likely be more charitable. As you imply, the license _is_ a serious 
issue, and that's precisely the reason why it is as it is. POV-Ray 
predates the GPL, and you can't just take an existing codebase and 
simply rerelease it under another license - especially given how many 
people have contributed to the code base.

2. Having said that, one aspect you probably missed out on regarding the 
development of POV-Ray is that there _is_ a push to make the POV-Ray in 
compliance with some kind of license that many who complain will find 
amenable. I believe the next release (3.7) will be the last release with 
the old license. The next release after that (presumably 4.0) will have 
a license compatible with FSF views, etc. In order to do this, a lot of 
the code base will have to be gutted and rewritten. I suspect 3.7 is 
actually meant to be an intermediate step towards this. Thus, it can be 
expected that the release cycle will slow down a bit.

	(Anyone feel free to correct me regarding the claims made on point 2).

3. As implied in 2, a lot of changes are expected for version 4, with 
the possibility of even having a better (or replaced) SDL. The current 
SDL evolved from one that was never meant to be a language to begin 
with, and it shows. No real decisions have been made on how the SDL will 
be modified, but expect this to be a possible point of contention.

	(That's not the only, or perhaps not even the main, big change in 
version 4).

-- 
At the Electric Company:
"We would be delighted if you send in your payment. However, if you 
don't, you will be."


                     /\  /\               /\  /
                    /  \/  \ u e e n     /  \/  a w a z
                        >>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
                                    anl

Post a reply to this message