ProtocolZero posted at 12:19AM Fri, 19 July 2019 - #4357405

You seem to be making an assumption here. I never claimed that Bware/Rendo SHOULD make Poser open-source -- someone else in a different forum made that suggestion, I liked it because I think it's a bold new direction with a fair chance of success, and I came here to throw it out for discussion. I'm willing to admit that Poser may NOT be a good candidate for open-source, but right now, the only real arguments I'm hearing against it are:

1. That Bondware/Renderosity are counting on making their money back by selling licenses. I don't know what their situation is or what their plans are. Yes, I've read the releases -- [paraphrasing a bit here] "great opportunity", "bright future", "bold new direction", yada yada yada, etc. etc. etc. -- same old boilerplate that everyone who has ever acquired Poser has said before. If their plans are to simply do their own version of what everyone else has already tried, then prepare to be disappointed. It'll just be another real-world example of the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and again and expecting different results each time).

2. Licensing issues. This is probably the killer issue right here. Someone earlier pointed out that the Face and Hair rooms are licensed, and in a way that they can't be distributed or removed from the application. I pointed out that licenses can renegotiated or they can be allowed to expire, and there are probably other options. This could kill the idea itself, it could simply be a hurdle to overcome, or it could even not be a real issue at all. I don't know the details, and the person who raised the idea didn't sound like they did, either. But I'd say it's at least worth a look.

Comparing Poser to Linux is just ludicrous, I'm sorry, it is. Linux is the number one server operating system in the world. There is no comparison to the success of Linux.

It's a matter of degree, not of kind. The fact still remains:

1. Anyone can acquire Linux for free, either as source code or compiled.

2. They can edit the code and recompile it. Helps if they have a good idea to implement, know what they're doing, and have the skills to pull it off, but hey...

3. They can contribute financially to the development of Linux, either through donations, buying associated merch, or buying packaged releases.

4. Points 1 to 3 could also apply to a FOSS-based Poser.

I see one huge difficulty in making Poser FOSS. Content development.

Remember that Poser is not a content DEVELOPMENT tool (like Blender is). Poser is a content manipulation and rendering tool. Content is created in external software and then imported and rigged to work in Poser.

So ... if Poser is made FOSS and then starts getting hundreds of people all around the world working on it, what happens to content development? It's very difficult to create content for a moving target that is constantly undergoing change, so you'll probably see content support disappear. What would happen to Poser then?