Profiting from Open Source Software?
In one article on the OpenOffice.org Mac Community website, it talked about a company that rebranded OpenOffice.org 1.0 for Mac OS X (calling it LuxuriousityOffice – what kind of name is that?) and then sell it on their website and eBay. In Luxuriousity’s web page on this office product, it claims its very own Luxuriousity Office [TM] can fully read/write MS Office’s files, requires only 64Mbf of RAM (but later on recommended to run on a Mac with 256Mb of RAM or more), but the actual name of the open source application under the skin, OpenOffice.org, is rarely mentioned. They claimed that they are “licensed community distributor“, and would charge $9.95 for the software, where you can get it for free.
Moreover, by browsing their product pages, it seems that they are also rebranding Gimp as their own photo editing software, Audacity as their own multi-track sound recording software, Compiere as their own ERP/CRM package, QCad as their own AutoCAD replacement app, and many more others. It just sounds so dodgy.
Doing a bit of Google search on this company, it reveals that the person in charge of it, Greg Collins, has actually claimed that the free version is an unstable test version, when he is challenged about rebranding free software. There’s even a Slashdot thread of comments on this topic.
Well. Some people felt differently about this kind of act. One suggested that it is actually fine for people to charge packaging and post/handling for free software, and it might be an alternative way for people to be exposed by the wealth of free software out there. And in the Slashdot comments mentioned above, some people suggested that it does not go against GPL by rebranding and selling the open source product, if he can provide support for it.
Well. What do you think?
Comments
It would be fairer if they were honnest about the origins of the software, gave credit to those who developed it, and put something back into the development process, which is true of Linux distributers, but not Luxuriousity.
Whilst it is legal under the GPL to sell on, it must either be the unalterd code or clearly stae what is is based on and what has been changed. Luxuriousity certainly do not do the latter, and I also see no mention of source code (another requirement of the GPL)
I’m using Audacity for mixing of an album, a combination of piano, some gee-tar, drums and mixed vocals. I’m terrificly stoked that such a stellar prog. is GPL, as i love the idea and advocate some of the ideals of open-source in my life and music. i want to prove to some friends that a freely obtainable (and usable) piece of code is just as competent as their multi-hundred (and sometimes thousand$) multi-trackers and mixing software.
altho the GPL doesn’t prohibit what ‘Luxuriousity’ dude is doing, it’s low-brow, low-class, and generally just proves his own lack of talent. tho, some would feel he gets an A+ in Capitalism, and would excel in any ad. firm or marketing biz for basically repackaging someone else’s blood+sweat and making a profit off of it without really doing much work. Hmm…hey…this guy isn’t the CEO of the recording industry association, is he? ;)
I don’t find the ammount of freeware to be overwhelming at all. You search in google, read a few reviews, try it out. The cream floats to the top, it’s obvious what’s good. This bloke is a scam artist, don’t justify him with excuses.
I JUST paid the 9.95 for LuxuriousityOffice on an eBay auction. NOW after doing a bit of research, I feel taken. UNLESS this dingleberry can in fact provide support if needed, he’s not a capitalist, he’s a thief.
Hey John (Comment #5),
You got the software…how does it run…is it compatible with Microsoft Office?..how does it compare in your opinion…I would like to hear what you think of it in detail….I’m looking for an alternate office suite of some sort, but I don’t want Wordperfect, and I want something compatible with Microsoft Office…word, excel, the like..thanks!
sincerely, david
I think anybody ’selling’ open source should be up front about it, and I am sorely tempted to place an ad in ebay making a counter offer explaining clearly that the software is freely available, offering a CD at cost plus a little – showing how the pricing is made up and expose these shady characters for what they are. I am going away to do some calculations now to see if I can undercut them….. If I can make a profit on it, I will make it clear that half of any proceeds will be donated straight to the original developers.
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Sounds kinda like the Linux market, huh!