Celestia Forums

I was part of 2 freeware projects before, but those were just 2 guys and the product was supposed to be less than impressive.

Now I discovered Celestia and orbiter and I realized that I could make addons. And I am starting to enjoy it.

Before I knew the world of freeware, I used to think about the typical "trade work for money". But it was exchange but no sharing.

Making addons is a way to share, to pay back the joy of freeware by having the joy of making add ons... and on top of that you are sharing.

I don't know about you, but I am starting to enjoy the world of freeware. It's kind of exciting because you learn. It's kind of a thing that causes you to self-teach things or ask questions that you would never ask or look for otherwise.

Now I think freeware is a world of personal growth.

Please be aware that although Orbiter is freeware, Celestia is Free Software by the FSF definition and distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL, which goes way beyond simply 'free to use' as is common in the freeware world.

For example the following clauses of the Orbiter licence make it explicitly not Free Software:

You are not allowed to charge a fee for the software without the consent of the author other than that to cover the cost of the distribution

You are not allowed to use Orbiter or parts of it in a commercial product without the author's consent.

You are not allowed to modify any executable files or documentation in any way.

And of course the source code for Orbiter is not available.