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Subject: Re: Why is Nvidia given GPL'd code to use in closed source drivers?
From: Marco Monteiro <masm@acm.org>
To: Andrew Walrond <andrew@walrond.org>
Cc: linux-kernel <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
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On Fri, 2003-01-03 at 12:51, Andrew Walrond wrote:
> Yes but....
> 
> I develop computer games. The last one I did took a team of 35 people 2 
> years and cost $X million to develop.
> 
> Please explain how I could do this as free software, while still feeding 
> my people? Am I a bad person charging for my work?

No, not you. Bad is the people you work for: the code you write is not
yours.

I don't play games much. But I remember when I did; I know people who
do, now. I would say that around 95% of the games I see being played are
pirated. I know person who, without buying a single game have 500+ CDs
with games. I bought 12 games, until 4 or 5 years ago. Before buying, I
played each one of them: I liked the game and, naturally, I bought it,
to support the guys who made it.

If I see a Free Software game that I like and play, I will support the
producers. It is not because I don't have the software for free (as in
'free' bear) that I buy it; I can get any game for free (or for the
price of the CDs).

I believe that other ways of selling Free Software would be as much or
more profitable for those who make games. (But not for distributors, and
that is the problem, because they rule the market.) Of course I'm not
going to tell you what other ways there are, because then you would know
as much as I and I would lose that advantage. ;) And maybe these other
ways of selling Free Software could serve as a filter for crappy games,
which is good.

> Really - I want to understand so I too can join this merry band of happy 
> people giving everything away for free!
> 
> Andrew

You still don't understand the diference between the 'free' and 'Free
for Freedom'.

-- 
Marco Monteiro

"All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."
	--Sean O'Casey
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