Lol, I just had to post. Blender is amazingly small. When I first downloaded it, it took less than a couple of seconds and shocked, I thought that’s it? It’s amazing how a small file size could create such amazing works. In that tiny file is housed a program capable of creating awesome visuals, animations and games. Boy and the ability to extend the use of Blender with Python scripts, woah Ton’s team really had all these things worked out. Blender RULES!!!
Jason Lin
I had to post on this… because Blender actually saved my 3D skillz from dying off like every other skill I’ve ever had.
When I first found it like so many years ago… since version 1.5… or 1.8 one of those…
Both of which I’m sure I have somewhere. LoL…
…
but anyhoo…I thought it wouldn’t be around too long, but I used it anyway and boy was I not surprised when NAN stopped doing their thing… I was sad… but the Blender community saved Blender… and now we all can rejoice!
Yes… that was a pointless ramble… but I just wanted to basicly say… For being free… Blender is unbelievably powerful. And what makes it better… everything on it is carefully thought out and planned before being added. People actually care about this, and that’s why down the road… every other program out there will ph33r blender(if they already don’t).
Only sad thing… by then we’ll probably have to payfor Blender!!! I HOPE NOT! LoL
As far as I know, because it was released under the GPL license, it cannot ever be sold. Correct me if I´m wrong.
As far as I know, because it was released under the GPL license, it cannot ever be sold. Correct me if I´m wrong.[/quote]
If the license is going to be changed, it could be sold. But as long as it stays under GPL it stays free 
That’s what GPL is about, it cannot be changed.
Martin
You mean to say that people can’t start making their own versions of Blender and sell them?
It’s important to remember that in theory, the GPL is for the Blender code that once was. The code is always changing and being improved. If someone was to take the Blender source code and add some new great features to it that he programmed, he should be able to sell it.
The foundations of Blender will always be free, but I wonder what that will be worth if a large company took the source code, changed it, added some tiny new features and sold it as Blender. Who owns the Blender Trademark after all.
Blender is a word from the dictionary so pretty much anyone can use it.
I’m not to familar with the GPL, but I think people are allowed to create commercial products from open source code; they just have to release the source code when they sell it.
I could be comletely wrong…
Blender can be sold. The source must remain open. So who’s going to by a version of blender when some idealistic penguin will have it available on some ftp site. The gimp is under the same license and there are people out there selling cd’s with the gimp on it and people are buying it??? %| Strange world.
The reason why Microsoft says that open source is like cancer, is because if you use code that is released with a GPL license, that program may not be sold, it may be only offered under the GPL license. So say for example that Pixar use Blender code as a basis for their new 300 Gb PRMan 9.9 , those 2.2 Mb will make the new 300 Gb program a free GPL program. So if someone at Microsoft is crazy enough to use tripwire or the Linux ip-chains in their OS, that too will be magicaly turned in free opensource software.
I hope that what i’ve just said is true, because I only read about 60% - 70% of the GPL license text.
The gimp is under the same license and there are people out there selling cd’s with the gimp on it and people are buying it??? Strange world.
easy install. no dev tools, no fink, no waiting for it to compile
edit: Imagine you’re an art teacher and want to install it in you’re lab on many machines. An install CD is pretty nice and probably worth the money
another edit: I just realized I’m talking as a Mac user. The CD is only available for OS X, no?
It maybe true that distro’s and Gimp are being sold on CD, but they may only charge production cost of the CD and most Linux distro’s are bought because of the manaul included in the , so, the software is really free and you are payin in affect for the packeging and manuals.