[Bf-committers] Blender FAQ for Artists and the GPL

[Tom Musgrove]

I have some suggested changes for the GPL FAQ,

In a few sentences, what is the GPL?
	The GPL license gives endusers additional rights that are normally reserved 
to the copyright holder, such as distributing and making copys of work (in 
this case Blender), make derivative works (ie add new features to Blender), 
and the freedom to sell the work to others.  These additional rights are 
granted as long as the enduser also grants these same rights to their 
endusers under the terms of the GPL, and as long as the individual abides by 
the terms of the GPL.


and



Can my organization use Blender internally without giving up our valuable 
changes to our competitors?
	The GPL actually does allow your organization to use a modified version of 
Blender internally without offering the source-code as long as you do not 
distribute it outside your company or organization.  However, many 
organizations find it is actually more valuable to donate their changes back 
to the community.  The reason this is so, is that maintaining a blender 
'branch' with different code changes and patches requires maintenaince.  If 
the patches and changes are donated back to the Blender foundation, they can 
be integrated into blender, thus shifting or sharing the cost and burden of 
maintenance from the corporation.  Thus unless the changes are related to 
the coorporations 'core competency' and is expected to provide a clear 
'competitive advantage', it is generally recommended that the changes be 
donated back.


Also, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the wording of the answer to

How does the GPL and Blender benefit me?

but can't think of alternative wording at the moment.

LetterRip