"Chris B" <c_b### [at] btconnectcomnospam> wrote:
> I think it's really picking a level that we feel won't deter potential
> contributors but that also won't stop the community from modifying and
> redistributing contributions, particularly back through this collection.

This thread has got the least attention from the others.  My guess is that
people either don't mind copyrights or mind too much to even consider
sharing their works under suspiciously named licenses with lots of boredom
legalese...

> Personally I'd prefer that they could modify and redistribute in other ways
> too (e.g. for profit), simply because I feel that people are more likely to
> invest their time in something where there's a prospect that they'll be free
> to use it in more or less any way they like in the future (but I can't prove
> that).

Just as a last complement, let me clarify this:  the free in "free software"
is freedom, not gratis.  There are big companies making money off
open-source software.

The LGPL is less intransigent than the GPL in that it allows LGPL libraries
-- like povray includes -- to be used by even proprietary closed-source
software without requiring such software to be licensed under the same
terms or disclosing the sources.  The only requirement is that if you
redistribute a *modified* LGPL code, you distribute the modification as
well.

So, if someone used a povray include under the LGPL, they wouldn't need to
distribute the source for the rendered image.  If they used it and changed
the include file itself a bit, they still wouldn't need to distribute their
scene file, only the modification to the original LGPLed include file.  Of
course, what is to be considered modification in the context of povray is
open to debate:  is simply scaling an include file provided object a
modification from the original?  I'd say not, but maybe someone could say
otherwise...

Point is:  if people want to sell their work and not disclose the creative
process they've taken, fine.  LGPLed include files wouldn't hamper it.

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