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Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

orbiter-forum.com

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Re: Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

#21

Post by shakow »

marcodiego wrote: post #18

I wonder how hard would be to port it to linux. Maybe dxvk may help? Also, latest version is from 2016, so it looks like software that doesn't brings any money is finally open source because there is no hope to make any in the future. I'm sorry for them but glad they open sourced it. Would love if outcomes like this happened more often.

> software that doesn't brings any money

Orbiter never tried to bring in any money. It has always been a one-physicist pet project (first version published in 2000), closed-source albeit very open to all kind of mods and featuring a vibrant community.

Re: Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

#24

Post by rbanffy »

marcodiego wrote: post #18

I wonder how hard would be to port it to linux. Maybe dxvk may help? Also, latest version is from 2016, so it looks like software that doesn't brings any money is finally open source because there is no hope to make any in the future. I'm sorry for them but glad they open sourced it. Would love if outcomes like this happened more often.

It’s MIT licensed, so there’s nothing stopping someone from getting it, making major changes, and releasing it as proprietary software for consoles and make a lot of money in the process.

This is why I’m always sad when I see a project opening as MIT instead of GPL.

Re: Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

#25

Post by [deleted] »

space_fountain wrote: post #19
marcodiego wrote: post #18

I wonder how hard would be to port it to linux. Maybe dxvk may help? Also, latest version is from 2016, so it looks like software that doesn't brings any money is finally open source because there is no hope to make any in the future. I'm sorry for them but glad they open sourced it. Would love if outcomes like this happened more often.

I don't think there was ever any hint of an attempt to bring in money. I'm not entirely sure why the author choose to keep it closed source, maybe worries about others seeing "bad" code or something, but this is simply a case of someone no longer having time for their labor of love, not someone failing to monetize

[deleted]

Re: Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

#26

Post by RobotCaleb »

rbanffy wrote: post #24
marcodiego wrote: post #18

I wonder how hard would be to port it to linux. Maybe dxvk may help? Also, latest version is from 2016, so it looks like software that doesn't brings any money is finally open source because there is no hope to make any in the future. I'm sorry for them but glad they open sourced it. Would love if outcomes like this happened more often.

It’s MIT licensed, so there’s nothing stopping someone from getting it, making major changes, and releasing it as proprietary software for consoles and make a lot of money in the process. This is why I’m always sad when I see a project opening as MIT instead of GPL.

Sure, but on the other hand it's MIT so I'm actually willing to look at the source code.

Re: Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

#27

Post by bruce511 »

rbanffy wrote: post #24
marcodiego wrote: post #18

I wonder how hard would be to port it to linux. Maybe dxvk may help? Also, latest version is from 2016, so it looks like software that doesn't brings any money is finally open source because there is no hope to make any in the future. I'm sorry for them but glad they open sourced it. Would love if outcomes like this happened more often.

It’s MIT licensed, so there’s nothing stopping someone from getting it, making major changes, and releasing it as proprietary software for consoles and make a lot of money in the process. This is why I’m always sad when I see a project opening as MIT instead of GPL.

Not to be picky, but the GPL would not stop someone "making major changes, and releasing it as proprietary software for consoles and make a lot of money in the process."

The only difference is that they would be obligated to release the source code. Given that the list of folk who can compile for consoles is very limited, this would not be an existential burden for them.

Indeed, even if they targeted a common development platform, like a PC or Mac, they would still be able to offer lots of value, and easily sell copies if there was a market for that. The vast majority of players would happily pay $49 for a compiled version of the game rather than go to the effort of compiling themselves.

In other words, the GPL and MIT licenses are orthogonal to making money - making money selling compiled GPL programs is not hard - assuming the program has some value to someone.

Re: Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

#28

Post by CydeWeys »

RobotCaleb wrote: post #26
rbanffy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s MIT licensed, so there’s nothing stopping someone from getting it, making major changes, and releasing it as proprietary software for consoles and make a lot of money in the process. This is why I’m always sad when I see a project opening as MIT instead of GPL.

Sure, but on the other hand it's MIT so I'm actually willing to look at the source code.

Why wouldn't you be willing to look at GPL source code? That'd be writing off all of Linux as just the tip of the iceberg.

Re: Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

#29

Post by blendergeek »

RobotCaleb wrote: post #26
rbanffy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s MIT licensed, so there’s nothing stopping someone from getting it, making major changes, and releasing it as proprietary software for consoles and make a lot of money in the process. This is why I’m always sad when I see a project opening as MIT instead of GPL.

Sure, but on the other hand it's MIT so I'm actually willing to look at the source code.

Why wouldn't you be willing to look at GPL code?

Is it just GPL, or strong copyleft in general?

Do you intend to release modified versions without releasing corresponding source code?

Why should an author want to provide you with the source code, just so you can deny that privilege to others?

Re: Orbiter Space Flight Simulator is now open source

#30

Post by RobotCaleb »

blendergeek wrote: post #29
RobotCaleb wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but on the other hand it's MIT so I'm actually willing to look at the source code.

Why wouldn't you be willing to look at GPL code? Is it just GPL, or strong copyleft in general? Do you intend to release modified versions without releasing corresponding source code? Why should an author want to provide you with the source code, just so you can deny that privilege to others?

In my opinion (opinion, so I could be wrong), MIT and friends offer more freedom. I have a strong aversion to the concept of copyleft and usually try to avoid it for fear of "tainting" anything I touch after. In principle, where it makes sense, I rather like the idea of the sort of freedom claimed by GPL advocates but in practice I prefer to allow people to do whatever they want.
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