WordPress › Support » GPL Themes for Money do i understand the GPL right?

redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

Well to me GPL = Free.

So many themes/frameworks want a lot of meney for them. btu studiopress for exple makes all themes GPL. So u am wondering a lot about this.

So i can copy the theme legal? and still the charge 50+ bucks for this? If i release something with gpl are u now supposed to give the source away as well.

do they, point me to a stupidpress official link for the source if there is one please.

and if there is not. if my undertanding is right i am only plying for the access fo support forums.

if i would make a site with all premium gpl themes for free download they could not sue me right?

if we are free to copy themes that are gpl from develloppers there will be sites who already do this point me to a good one plaease.

i am really feeling strange when i look for GPL YEAH GPL themes like i download illegal warez. i mean i dont want to have spam bots or viruses in my software and i dont want to pay.

please enlighten me!
Rev. Voodoo
Volunteer Moderator
Posted 1 year ago #

GPL = free as in speech, not free as in beer

GPL developers are free to create whatever they like, and charge as much as they like. Do you expect these people to pur hundreds of hours of work into a product, and give it away for free?

You are free to take their code, and modify it however you like. That's what the free means. You could also take your modification and give it away, or sell it. What you can't do is take that theme, and make it non-GPL.

Getting official support as part of the purchase price is a perk. It makes it worthwhile to buy the product. Of course, theme developers do not have to give you support, but that is how they retain customers.

Of course, I am not a lawyer. You'd be best off reading up on GPL if you do not understand it. But in a nutshell, just because something is GPL, does not mean it is free (money) it means it is free (code, as in you can have the code, you can modify the code)

The system works by good people paying a fair price for quality goods. If you are looking to beat the system, you are moving outside the spirit of GPL. When you do that, you get products from shady folks, and you will get spyware and viruses. Be a part of the community and do the right thing.
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

Oh yeah right, or just STFU!

I did not say that i think it is a bad thing. And i dont need to read the GPL again. I guess i did understand it.

But what you say makes me angry. Claiming i want to "beat" the system such a BS total BS!
The "System" was and is mostly GPL = free download from official site. Firefox, VLC, Linux all open source software ... all the same all free trasparent open download of official sites.

let me give a exaple about GPL. QT C++ Libary from trolltech(Nokia) there are 2 versions. for the GPL version u can use it for free but u need to release your sourcecode and u dont get support of course.

so for a compiled programm there is source u cant see in exe files so u need to release the source on besides your exes and dlls. for themes thats not the case. the wp themes the programm is the code.

what i want to say is when wordress is GPL and genesis is based on wordpress and respects the licence so greatly they maybe would release the source/theme on there site.
again i am not saying its a bad thing. i just stink its strage way to make money.
if course they could make a bottom "download for free" and "i want to play for 60$ for this" but of course the dont.
and wordpress.org making money of it a lot. its fine with me as long as i have the choice to pay.
there was a music group the did this this way and it worked. you coudl dinate for a free album what u like.

there is just oen little thing i dont understand about the GPL and i am a little lazy to read it all. are u not supposed to release the source for free if the programm is based on other GPL program? is this a grey zone they are in or totally legal? would love to get this answered.

and again claiming i would beat the "system" is such a BS the "system" is GPL = free download in 99,9% of the cases (support is another thing) and i think the system will stay that way. in fact this is the 1st time i see such king of GPL selling.

And i did the right thing (for me) i downloaded genesis from some site, it updated automatically and i downloaded all child themes for free. i keep u informed of me FREE avast antivirus missed any bad code or my blog starts to spam ppl ^^
Rev. Voodoo
Volunteer Moderator
Posted 1 year ago #

Claiming i want to "beat" the system such a BS total BS!

My apologies on my wording....I didn't mean you as in YOU specifically, I mean a general you, as is used in English in general passing. It was the passive you. I did not mean to imply YOU specifically wish to do such things, I meant in general. I could have said if one does x, one gets y.

genesis is based on wordpress and respects the licence

There's been a lot of debate on this, but ultimately, genesis has no choice. WordPress is GPL. Themes and plugins are derivatives of WordPRess, therefore they may not distribute in any manner other than GPL

. i just stink its strage way to make money

Groups are still trying to figure out the best way to make money. Some charge outright for a theme, some have memberships, some offer bonus perks, or support, etc.

its fine with me as long as i have the choice to pay.

You do, and don't have a choice I guess. You can move outside the system and get the product for free. People can redistribute themes. BUt that is outside the intent, and 'shady'. For developers to keep working hard and making quality products, they need to get paid.

u not supposed to release the source for free if the programm is based on other GPL program

You can do whatever. All plugins and themes are considered derivative works of WordPress. Therefore they must be GPL. But they can be free or paid, it is entirely up to the dev.

wordpress.org making money of it a lot

WordPress.org makes no money off it. WordPress is free. Themes and plugins which charge do not pay wordpress any sort of fee or anything.

GPL = free download in 99,9% of the cases

That's where you are misinterpreting GPL. It has nothing to do with free ($). It has everything to do with free code. YOu can download wordpress right now, recode some stuff, and redistribute it as redanimalwarPress. You are free to do what you want with the code. The restriction comes in redistributing it. You can't redistribute it non-GPL.

So, even if most GPL stuff is offered for free, GPL does not equal free ($). The developer has the right to charge what/if/how they see fit.

This phrase

i downloaded genesis from some site,

And this

claiming i would beat the "system" is such a BS

Are incongruous. You are violating the spirit of the WordPress community when you do that. Why don't you feel the developers deserve money, and deserve to charge for their amazing products?
Rev. Voodoo
Volunteer Moderator
Posted 1 year ago #

http://www.alistercameron.com/2008/12/14/matt-mullenweg-wordpress-gpl/

Here's a cool conversation. There's a lot of other stuff out there too if you are truly interested.

I don't think my attempts a rambling will be nearly as helpful to you as what other, more well versed people can say.

I'm simply not an expert in this area. The main point I try to make

“When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price”

http://wordpress.org/about/gpl/
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

There's been a lot of debate on this, but ultimately, genesis has no choice.

oh sure there is a lot of debate but u are wrong! actaully there was a big debate about thesis and thesis is now dual licence. the php code is GPL and the css is normal copyright or something.
i watched this skype conversation with matt hat this guy from thesis. i mean the arguments and everything i dont like the thesis guy at all. btu somehow even if i like 100% GPL more of couse it sounds somehow better for sellign to me. actaully he pisses off the community and wordpess says official they dont recoment themes that are not 100% GPL and that IS the reason all premium themes went. GPL. i mean i understand both sides. but if u think of it somehow its redicoulous to say css code is "based" on wordpress in a theme ;)

and 'shady'

i dont know i what world u live in but i dont feel shady for copying a GPL piece of software LOOOOL that only a wordpress theme. i mean thematic is free downlaod and almost as powerfull as genisis. why should i pay 60$ for it i dont have so mutch money for that. i can donate the 60$ for starving ppl or somehing or just keep it.

WordPress.org makes no money off it. WordPress is free. Themes and plugins which charge do not pay wordpress any sort of fee or anything.
they get listed for free there and wordpress gets nothing for the ads? source?

That's where you are misinterpreting GPL. It has nothing to do with free ($). It has everything to do with free code.

No i dont misinterpret it all all. i know they could say firefox costs 60$ now. but they dont! what i am saying is the "system" u are talking about is. 99,9% of free software = free download. thats what ppl do with it! and i like that.

and this is "only" php and css. and there are techniques used which are developped by wordpress and the communty. if ppl are willing to pay for that its fine i dont.

if firefox would cost 60$ now it would be takeing 30 minutes for some ork to come up for 0$. thats the spirit of open-source. i think its kind of strange that i see this kind if thing is the wordpress market where the "code" is only php.

copared to firefox there are worlds between. for forefox i guess i would pay something like 50-60$ but not for a wordpress theme.

and btw if the theme updates outomatically all i need to do is watch the code and look if its some familiar server URL and they i know if i got it from the official source. its there "problem" when they do it GPL. funny thing is there is a lot of documentation free for access on the site unlike for hybrid.

there are enough ppl happy to play for this as mutch as consoel game i am not ;) and i have the GPL freedom to do this legally so why the hell sould i feel bad hahah ;)

its a market model. 99% of the ppl using WP for free. and maybe one percent is buying URLs and themes on wordpress.com and still they all get rich from it so what? a am one of the 99% and i might give somehing back to the community later (a plugin for wordpress)
esmi
Theme Diva & Forum Moderator
Posted 1 year ago #

i might give somehing back to the community later

Oh - I wonder how many times I've heard that one. Then there's the one about tomorrow never coming. Bottom line - you want professional development and professional support - expect to pay professionals for it. There is absolutely nothing in GPL or WordPress that forbids this. Or even frowns upon it.
Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)
Half-Elf Support Rogue & Mod
Posted 1 year ago #

However.

Taking themes from other devs and turning around and selling them is something many of us find personally morally reprehensible, and will put you on the outs with a lot of us.

Basically? You know darn well how to behave like an adult. Please do so :)
esmi
Theme Diva & Forum Moderator
Posted 1 year ago #

Even taking a free theme, turning it around as your own and offering it as a free download is considered unethical.
Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)
Half-Elf Support Rogue & Mod
Posted 1 year ago #

As is taking a paid theme, turning it around as your own and offering it as a free (or paid) download.

As someone else mentioned to me: The GPL is not a license for unethical behavior.

It's a software license, that's all.
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

Oh - I wonder how many times I've heard that one. Then there's the one about tomorrow never coming. Bottom line - you want professional development and professional support - expect to pay professionals for it. There is absolutely nothing in GPL or WordPress that forbids this. Or even frowns upon it.

you claim me or others ppl jsut saying this? thats why there are 15000 plugins on wp.org bc everyone is just taking and giving nothing back. u dont get it.
and i dont need prefessional support when i have a free documentation and a search engine that can point me to andswers free. according to matt the sales went up after premium companies went to gpl so they do this for more money. and i guess they really dont care if ppl copy it because there are enogh ppl who pay 60$ for a bit of css and php. i guess there are 2 kinds of ppl. one group wants the profressional support and think its worth to play for the hard work they did no themes and one group dont gets the gpl and sees no free download button on the site and clicks buy because of that.

However.

Taking themes from other devs and turning around and selling them is something many of us find personally morally reprehensible, and will put you on the outs with a lot of us.

Basically? You know darn well how to behave like an adult. Please do so :)

i never said that i would turn it arround. and i never said that i want to sell or give them away for free under another name or making them my own. actaully what i said was that the GPL makes it legal for me to put it on my site for free download. and actaully i am thinking of doing so. with a choice. "get it for free here" or "go to studiopress and pay $79.95".

80$ WTF is this? this is more then a top AAA video game title. fro one theme and the framework. i think the price is total overkill. u have to dig into the site to see that they offer the framework only for 60$. lol.

i repeat myself ... other ppl are hacking very very complex c++ code and never come up with strange buissness models like this. and i know mozilla gets payed by google to 80% for expample but still only the major devs get payed all over the world ppl working on c++ code for free. charging $60 dollars for some theme hooks and other well knows techniques everyone can copy paste from the web in a few days (or just use thematic or some other free framework).

stop taking about unethical. its not! the more u talk about this like that the better i feel about using my rights.

anyone knows where i can find the drskill theme for free download ;) cant find it. really really strange. every movie or game i can find on the net and ppl actaully violating the law and the copyright.
but i cant find a gpl theme thats legal to copy ;)
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

i meant the driskill theme
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

hey i just saw u are mods i bet u will start to delete my posts or close this thread now bc i ask for something legal. let me guess i hurt the community ;)
fonglh
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

It is your right to take a paid theme and put it up for free download, and it's legal. It's also not a nice thing to do.

There are people who choose to buy the themes at that price. It might be a lot to you, but for critical websites who need to stay up, paying that amount for the support isn't too much for them.

Sure they could do it themselves with a bit of Googling and reading some tutorials, but they think they have better uses for their time. It's their choice.
Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)
Half-Elf Support Rogue & Mod
Posted 1 year ago #

hey i just saw u are mods i bet u will start to delete my posts or close this thread now bc i ask for something legal. let me guess i hurt the community ;)

Little slow on the uptake there, aren't you? We've not deleted anything yet (nor will we unless you start acting the goat,s wearing, etc).

As we've said, what you described is GPL permissible. On a personal level, we don't suggest it, but we're not going to try and stop you.

actaully what i said was that the GPL makes it legal for me to put it on my site for free download. and actaully i am thinking of doing so. with a choice. "get it for free here" or "go to studiopress and pay $79.95".

Yes, GPL makes that something you can do.

Don't. It's stealing.

ETA - GPL means free as in speech, not free as in beer ;)
bgardner
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

Just out of curiosity, what would be the primary reason for putting all of our themes for download on your site? You must be seeking some benefit if you were going to do that.
Dougal Campbell
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

Well to me GPL = Free.

(emphasis mine)

What it means "to you" doesn't mean a damn thing to the letter and spirit of the GPL.

Surely you don't think you're the first to think of this, or to bring it up here or elsewhere? I mean, really. The GPL exists to protect the freedoms of the recipient of code. On the one hand, it was written in a different time for a different set of circumstances -- it didn't have scripting languages in mind where the running code is the source code. Thus, some provisions of the GPL are redundant in this context.

Yes, you can legally redistribute their code. And I'm sure you'd have a crowd of people eager to take advantage of that. But they will not have a way to verify that you haven't modified that code and snuck something underhanded into it. I'm not saying that you would, but if you (or someone else) did, the only way to verify it would be to compare it to a copy of the code that was obtained legitimately. And what happens later when there are official theme code updates -- bug and security fixes? Do you plan to keep up with those?

Have you ever coded a theme from scratch yourself? Not a child theme. Not taking an existing theme and modifying it. I mean starting with an empty directory and coding all the PHP, CSS, and JS for a decent subset of the template files and a functions.php? I did it once, just as an exercise. I still don't consider it finished, and it was a lot of work. You put enough work into something like that, enough planning and thought, you might start to think it's worth a few dollars. I don't know about you, but I don't work for free. My time is worth money. Yes, I do put out plugins, tips, articles, and such for free -- but not all of my work. I don't know about you, but I've got bills to pay and a family to support.

So sure, you could buy a premium theme (or obtain it for free from someone else like yourself), and redistribute it for free. But that certainly doesn't make you somebody that others in the WordPress community will respect.

why should i pay 60$ for it i dont have so mutch money for that.

Nobody says you have to spend your money on a premium theme. There are plenty of themes out there that are free-as-in-beer. Download one of those and spend your $60 on a nice steak dinner and a bottle of wine. Or a month's worth of mac-and-cheese. Whatever.
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

Just out of curiosity, what would be the primary reason for putting all of our themes for download on your site? You must be seeking some benefit if you were going to do that.

Oh hey you here? ^^ Well i think i will get a lots of visitors on my site if i am giving away your themes for free download for expample. still lookign for driskill i like to have a responsive theme. and i would like to hear it from you yourself that i am free to do something like this!

Don't. It's stealing.

Wrong, absolutly wrong. Stealing by definition is doing something against the Law. Since the GPL says i can do (almost?) whatever i want with its legal to copy and redistribute it in any way. So keep talking and lieing ...

It was there choice to go GPL and not 1% GPL and 99% normal Copyright whatever Chris Pearson has done with thesis. So they are giving me the legal right to do so and i am not stealing for using this legal right. u get that already?
I think they are the ones takeing advatage of the poor ppl who dont get the GPL by only not providing information that the themes are all GPL on there site (exept from the theme FAQ witch is hidden under "contact" on the site.)

About the Genesis Child Theme

Current version: 1.7.1 · Updated: 7/18/11

Requires: WP 3.2 · Compatible to: WP 3.2

Features: 6 layout options, fixed width, threaded comments

BuddyPress Compatible: Get GenesisConnect

not one word about GPL. i dont call that trasparent marketing (dont know if this exists in english i am german)

and if u want to help them and i see u are sure on their side and against what i am doing. so u play consider stop talking (lieing) in this thread because this actaully encurages me to move on with this!

and @Studiopress: when your prices where not that overkill and your site more transparent about GPL and that your themes are released and free to legal to copy and not steal i would maybe have another approach to this.

... still looking for the driskill theme i would love to have a responsive theme for genesis. are there any free resposive childs make my someone you could point me to?
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

sry i would like to edit posts but i cant right?

just wanted to add that i expect ppl to insult me for the information they can see on my site now. because i am a 911 truther ...
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

@Studiopress
and please tell me why i find this under my theme

Copyright © 2011 · Magazine Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress

Copyright? U are 100% GPL and still u put a copyright in the footer? wtf is this? what about putting information there that the theme is GPL? Who is "taking advatage" here?
Me for using the rights they voluntary give to me and everyone, the acact right 99% of the open source devs give everyone we call it a "free download" button or they for misleading + hiding information?
bgardner
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

and please tell me why i find this under my theme

That's YOUR copyright, not ours. In other words the content on your site is protected by copyright law. Assuming it's unique material.
bgardner
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

I'm not going to go into all of the GPL matters, but what I will say is that folks who use our themes and have business models that work alongside our company get a ton of promotion by us.

Those who respect the time we put into developing Genesis and teaching the community of users and developers are allowed to sell themes on our marketplace, get listed as recommended developers and so on.

These people are making $xx,xxx and some $xxx,xxx from the leads, traffic and theme sales we send them.

I'm guessing that putting our themes on your site will come no where close to that type of financial benefit.

Just saying.
bgardner
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

not one word about GPL. i dont call that trasparent marketing (dont know if this exists in english i am german)

Every single theme of ours is noted at the top of the stylesheet:

License: GNU General Public License v2.0 (or later)
License URI: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php

Also...

and @Studiopress: when your prices where not that overkill and your site more transparent about GPL and that your themes are released and free to legal to copy and not steal i would maybe have another approach to this.

Maybe you should consider a different business model. Putting themes on your site enables the fear that people are getting encrypted versions. They are also completely unsupported by us - which also causes a bad user experience.

if you feel good about doing that, so be it.

Or you can become an affiliate of ours, and encourage others to purchase and make some pretty good money along the way.
Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)
Half-Elf Support Rogue & Mod
Posted 1 year ago #

You can edit posts up for to an hour.

And it's still stealing. It's legal, but it's stealing. Stealing != illegal (otherwise all those baseball players have to give the bases back!).

to take the property of another wrongfully and especially as a habitual or regular practice

Thesis themes are GPL2. Some of their portions (IIRC CSS and some images) are not, but that's permissible.
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

That's YOUR copyright, not ours. In other words the content on your site is protected by copyright law. Assuming it's unique material.

well yes of course. i am sorry that confused me a little. because actaully it sounds like the copyright belongs to the theme and/or i am searching for bad things about this ^^

but why dont u pull in the bloginfo->blogname by default? or put at least my.domain.com or something like that in. many themes do that.

I'm guessing that putting our themes on your site will come no where close to that type of financial benefit.

Just saying.

well i am a little no one person with no visitors ... i not a professional buisness man nor a professional wordpress dev. I made a theme 2009 with hybrid-news and then i was away from blogging 2 years and now i started over. somehow i got to genesis.

to me its aimed at ppl why really do wp for living or at least do sites for other ppl and money. i dont. i playing arround with php/html/css for self education. and i think it to expesive for me (and others) and i think its rediculous to use another theme where i can find a free download on the official site because its GPL.

hybrid has a better model+pricing i think i think $25 a year. i mean thats affordable. and u can get it for free at his site with all themes! but u got for sure more nice child themes and more features in the framework as far as i saw it (i might be wrong). anyway the reason why i swiched is just because there is no documentation untill u pay ;) even if i like the pricing more. i dont like suscriptions i dont know how it works. if i forget to cancel it i pay every year. and if i cancel and go away from blogging 2 years and stop i cant use the forums in 2 years^^.

Every single theme of ours is noted at the top of the stylesheet:

yes sure in the stylesheet ^^ how about in the footer of the themes and this this box on your site ^^

About the Genesis Child Theme
Current version: 1.7.1 · Updated: 7/18/11
Requires: WP 3.2 · Compatible to: WP 3.2
Features: 6 layout options, fixed width, threaded comments
BuddyPress Compatible: Get GenesisConnect

i think its a concious decision to hide it until ppl buy from you because if they(or many ppl) would see GPL right away that would think "GPL $80 WTF?" like me

anyway i dont want to start a war against studiopress. for some reason i think u got forced/drag into GPL and for me this buissness model dont really fits into GPL.

private free! buissness pay! thats fits more in my opinion. or free for all but pay for support.

what really pisses me off is guys like him Ipstenu

Don't. It's stealing.

claiming all the time its unethical and that its stealing to copy GPL code thats laughable! i would love to get richard stallmans reaction to that rofl. copy GPL = stealing i will never forget that my whole life!

so mutch talk i started this thread because i was confused i thaught somehow u must give the source out for free ^^

u are very good buissness man! and i am not. actaully i dont look for the best benefit for myself by putting 40 genesis themes for free on my site i actually want to help others who think like me and who want to defend the spirit of open source

and the spirit of open source is still:
software released on GPL -> free download -> software based on that software -> must be GPL -> resulting automatically in free download as well.
and seeing mods like Ipstenu claiming the spirit is another thing then copy and modyfied GPL code for free that its against the spirit to copy GPL is fears me. i hope open source stays that way it is in 99,0% of the cases.

somehow u managed to brake that chain/spirit and wp took a very long time deciding of payed GPL themes harm the community or not. ok they dont harm them i agree but still its a very very strange and wrong feeling that a have look for legal downloads like i look for warez! and now i get the taught that this actually can hurt the community! if my themes i got from fanart.us would infected (i dont think there is anything at all) with bad code i would redistribute them now.

Maybe you should consider a different business model. Putting themes on your site enables the fear that people are getting encrypted versions.

i feel it u are all about business and making money. i dont. i have no business model its a small blog from a nobody ^^
encrypted versions? what i mean? that i made a password on the archive or what? i did not btw
yes it enables fear and take advantage of that. sending ppl out to shady websites when they want to a copy of open source software when they dont have or want to play $80 is kind of new to the open source world. i dont like that marketing model, i do like your framework. end of story.
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

what i mean? = what you mean? - after last quote along with 100 other mistakes sry ;)
Rev. Voodoo
Volunteer Moderator
Posted 1 year ago #

encrypted versions? what i mean? that i made a password on the archive or what? i did not btw

What that refers to is a common practice. People take a quality theme, and write code that embeds spam links, tracks users, etc (all sorts of crappy behaviour), they then encrypt the code, so it looks like garbage, it is unreadable.

People who do not know how to read code, etc. assume that the code is supposed to be there, when it is actually doing evil.

These people often put other encrypted code into the theme which kills the site if any of the other encrypted code is removed.

Once they have taken the quality theme, and added their bs to it, they offer it up for free. Lot's of people download it, and get harmed doing so.

It's incredibly common, there's a good chance if a theme has been downloaded from a place other than the WP theme repo, or the theme's developer, it contains this stuff.
redanimalwar23
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

well i checked the main theme with totalvirus.com there was nothing in it it could find. but php is not like a normal virus i know. for some reason i could not check the whole archive bc i could not upload 13mb it broke up all the time even if it says up to 20mb. the little code i saw in some child themes is ok as far as a saw it. and the framework i am right not digging into some functions and i have fun ;) and no bad code so far.
bgardner
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

The bottom line is do whatever you want.

Our business model won't change, and we'll continue to supply quality themes to folks at (very) affordable prices to people who value their business.

Putting all of our themes on your site might get you a few hits of traffic and will continue to confuse users. Neither of which are beneficial the community as a whole, and definitely not the "spirit" of the GPL.
fonglh
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

and the spirit of open source is still:
software released on GPL -> free download -> software based on that software -> must be GPL -> resulting automatically in free download as well.

Not necessarily true. Read the link below. I'll even quote the relevant section.

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html

Actually, we encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they wish or can. If this seems surprising to you, please read on.
When we speak of “free software”, we're talking about freedom, not price. (Think of “free speech”, not “free beer”.) Specifically, it means that a user is free to run the program, change the program, and redistribute the program with or without changes.