Guy charging U$100 for package containing free rubies!!
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I hope this was the right forum to post this... I did it since several of those plugins were created by people on THIS forum.
I dont find it cool that the guy is charging money for plugins created by you, which are free! Ok, he also created his plugins, but then, he should sell them SEPARATELY!
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Wow, not cool. Its all in portuguese and he is located in Belo Horzonte (BH). Someone send Edson over to his joint and cause some trouble.
Chris
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@chris fullmer said:
Wow, not cool. Its all in portuguese and he is located in Belo Horzonte (BH). Someone send Edson over to his joint and cause some trouble.
Chris
I am also from Brazil (actually, I live some 40km from Edson, while this guy lives in another state), but certainly, Edson, being an architect and teacher, would be in a much better position to kick the guy´s ass!
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@chris fullmer said:
I lived in Itajuba, BH for a while. I'd go hunt him down if I was still in the area.
Chris
(BTW, Itajuba is awesome! "Eu sou felize, porque moro em Itajuba!") They had bumper stickers that said that. They made me smile.
Itajuba, BH? Is it some neighborhood of Belo Horizonte? Or a city in the metro area? Or did you meant Itajuba, MG (Minas Gerais state)?
So, what were you doing down here?
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I responded in a PM so as to not continue to hijack the thread. Sorry!
Chris
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@unknownuser said:
In the program Ark-Z SKP7 were used dozens of Scripts Bevan, that have been translated and some modified by me. Below relations with the authorship of each script (was indicated). The other scripts used in the program are my authorship.
Translated from his site.
I have no idea if this is legit, hoping an author of one of those scripts chimes in to confirm they gave permission to this chap to sell their scripts.
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@rickw said:
Back when we were learning ruby, many of us started with one of the @Last scripts and modified it. Or, we started with a script that was itself modified from an @Last script. We then modified our own scripts, and/or used the header info as a template.
After the copyright line, all the @Last scripts contained the following phrase:
@unknownuser said:
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies.
Any author that failed to delete that phrase from a given script has no recourse.
I have wanted for some time to set up a pair of new templates (one with the phrase and one without) that also have the menu structure set up for Organizer.rb
I'd be happy to post them here for collaborative editing so we can all end up with standardized templates that will work for us, will be(come) universal, and will allow quick parsing for script name, author's name, date, version, description, checksum, etc., so that Didier's site and any future version-update-checker scripts could quickly list and compare scripts/versions.
That would be great.
I like that it would include info in a manner which would allow auto-updaters to be able to read.As for this site; anyone got a list of the plugins used?
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The list link in the first post points to all the scripts that he has included.
Chris
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Back when we were learning ruby, many of us started with one of the @Last scripts and modified it. Or, we started with a script that was itself modified from an @Last script. We then modified our own scripts, and/or used the header info as a template.
After the copyright line, all the @Last scripts contained the following phrase:
@unknownuser said:
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies.
Any author that failed to delete that phrase from a given script has no recourse.
I have wanted for some time to set up a pair of new templates (one with the phrase and one without) that also have the menu structure set up for Organizer.rb
I'd be happy to post them here for collaborative editing so we can all end up with standardized templates that will work for us, will be(come) universal, and will allow quick parsing for script name, author's name, date, version, description, checksum, etc., so that Didier's site and any future version-update-checker scripts could quickly list and compare scripts/versions.
EDIT: I started a new thread for the template
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There is just one of my scripts, but I have not given any permission. There is a plenty of Didier's and TIG's scripts down there!
Tomasz
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of course, to give credit is not enough considering he is charging for scripts that were freely distributed. i think i will drop him a line to call his attention to this fact.
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"Thanks for making all these free plugins so I can make money on them even though they are available for free." hmmm...
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Dear Gaieus,
Perhaps the chap's membership to this Forum could and should be terminated, and a PM sent to him explaining why.
Regards,
Bob -
Bob,
I don't know if he is a member here (and with what username) but if I terminated his membership, how could he receive that PM?
Well, anyway, the question is quite academic now as simply terminating anyone's membership wouldn't solve the problem. There are hopefully other means going to take place.
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@gaieus said:
There are hopefully other means going to take place.
I second this! We are working on an idea that may go a ways to help to curtail unscrupulous people like the 'gentleman' mentioned from financially piggy backing on Ruby Scripters hard OPEN work.
I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of these attempts now that SketchUp is fast becoming so popular so it is receiving our top priority.
Mike
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..i wonder if he got the concept from my toolbar series
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EDIT: removed, off topic
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i have just sent him a note, as follows:
@unknownuser said:
prezado ezequiel,
sou arquiteto de porto alegre, professor na ufrgs, e moderador do SCF (Sketchup Community Forums).
recentemente chegou ao nosso conhecimento o pacote de ferramentas Ark-Z SKP6, que tu comercializas a partir do teu site. sempre nos interessa qualquer iniciativa desse tipo, pois em geral ferramentas adicionais melhoram o desempenho do sketchup e auxiliam seus usuários, que é o objetivo do forum.
no entanto, ao analisar o que tu ofereces nos chamou atenção o fato de que vários dos scripts que fazem parte do teu pacote não são da tua autoria. mais ainda, são scripts de autores conhecidos no forum e que distribuem os seus scripts de graça.
sabemos também que, em algum ponto do teu site, há uma lista informando a autoria dos scripts. isso é muito bom e está correto. também se sabe que muitos scripts permitem que outros os modifiquem à vontade, e essa permissão quase sempre consta do texto dos scripts. é muito provável que tu imagines que é suficiente dar crédito aos autores. porém, o problema que está criado é que tu estás fazendo uso comercial de scripts que são distribuídos gratuitamente, e sem consultar os seus autores.
a descoberta do teu pacote causou consternação na nossa comunidade (que não é pequena: hoje somos quase 13.000 membros). no brasil é muito comum o uso de software ilegal e poucos ligam para isso, mas no exterior isso é levado muito a sério. o forum SCF tem por princípio não incentivar qualquer iniciativa que fira a ética e não respeite a autoria.
por isso, tomo a liberdade de sugerir que faças contato com os autores dos scripts em questão. parece justo que eles também lucrem com a venda do seu trabalho.
qualquer iniciativa oficial do SCF contra ti teria um efeito desagradável. algo tão simples quanto um aviso de que boa parte do que tu vendes pode ser obtido de graça já seria comprometedor e prejudicaria a tua imagem.
atenciosamente,
--
Edson Mahfuz, PhD
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Porto Alegre - RS - BrasilMailto: edson@mahfuz.arq.br
translation:
dear ezequiel,
i am an architect in porto alegre and a professor at ufrgs, as well as a moderator at SCF.
it just came to our knowledge that you are selling a package of tools for sketchup. in general, all attempts to improve sketchup's capabilities and make its users' life easier interests us at SCF.
however, a quick look at the tools you included in the package indicates that many of the scripts were not authored by you. moreover, their authors are well known among us and their scripts are usually distributed for free.
we are aware that you mention their names in your site as the authors of those scripts. we also know that many of those authors grant permission "to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose and without fee" as long as copyright is preserved. this is where the problem is situated: you are making commercial use of scripts that are freely given away, and without getting permission from their authors.
the knowledge of what you are doing caused consternation at the SCF (we are now almost 13.000 strong). the use of illegal software may be commom in many parts of the world but we at SCF frown upon any unethical attitude regarding software and authorship.
thus i take the liberty of suggesting that you contact the authors of the scripts you included in your package. it is just fair that they benefit from the sale of their own work.
any attitude that we may take about this matter can have a very disagreable outcome for you. even something as simple as warning our members not to buy from you what they can get here and elsewhere for free would be damaging to your commercial reputation.
sincerely,
etc.
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Thats a nice text Edson. I hope he sees reason.
although he DID translate and created toolbars, I dont think thats enough of a work for him to charge money, considering the most hard work was the scripts themselves.
yes, he created several scripts too. I dont know how good they are and if they are worth money, but certainly, if they are good enough, he can sell such scripts and even more, sell to non brazilians too (through SMustard for example)
anyway, if he doesnt agree with all that, one thing we CAN do is to put him out of business in a simple way, without needing to resort to judicial means.
How? Simply by we creating a package just like his package, with THE SAME SCRIPTS, all translated to portuguese, with his icons (lol, ladrão que rouba ladrão tem 100 anos de perdão), and distribute it for free (obviously). We announce the package everywhere. Nobody will buy his tools anymore
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Do I pay for the ARK-Z plugins?
The question is why. If the vast majority of the plugins included in the toolbar are distributed for free.
Is it legal to pay for something they do not own? If not that way. WHY is it possible?
Authors should get paid for effort, but ... those who usurp the property of others should be punished
Sorry, my English is not good and use the translator google
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