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Free Programs than you can use and even SELL?

by Gb2
8 replies
This post has 2 purposes.
  1. To tell you about this great site I found
  2. To get some clarification/advice from someone with more experience on this matter.

I just bought a program from ebay with full re-sell rights to add in to a new package I'm putting together.

So being Curious as I am (aren't we all? ) ..... I traced the program to have come from this site: Welcome! - Free Software Directory - Free Software Foundation

Its got lots of more stuff like what I bought on there with a GPL Licence ("GPL" stands for "General Public License")

I have looked more into GPL and it does appear that you can sell this stuff!

So before I do, I wanted to see if anyone has any experience with it, but also to just point out the site as there is loads of cool stuff on there that you can just get for free and use.

Enjoy.
#free #programs #sell
  • Profile picture of the author Waddle
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  • Profile picture of the author Waddle
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    • Profile picture of the author profitsforall
      Originally Posted by Waddle View Post

      And I'm telling you that while it may be legal, you suck as a marketer and as a human being if you do so. Generally when people sell GPL software they add value in some way, providing paid enterprise support being the most common one. Just reselling apps that people can download for free is completely lame as a business model. More importantly, the authors of that software wrote it and gave it away for free out of the goodness of their hearts and in the spirit of open software. You're just freeloading off their hard work.

      Think a bit harder, there's your advice.
      In fairness to the OP the authors of the software released it under the gpl license. If they didn't want the software to be sold then they should have used a more restrictive license.

      Personally I wouldn't sell this software on - I'm sure some purchasers might feel conned that you sold them free software and this may negatively affect your reputation.


      Waddle, I also believe that personal attacks aren't allowed on this forum - you might want to reconsider how you interact with people here.
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      • Profile picture of the author Gb2
        Originally Posted by profitsforall View Post

        In fairness to the OP the authors of the software released it under the gpl license. If they didn't want the software to be sold then they should have used a more restrictive license.

        Personally I wouldn't sell this software on - I'm sure some purchasers might feel conned that you sold them free software and this may negatively affect your reputation.
        .
        I was more planning to put some of the free stuff in to the package along with a book I wrote to add more usefulness to the package rather than to sell it on it's own.

        As the risk of upsetting the customers for a couple of quid I wouldn't sell it either.
        The one I bought on ebay was only £2.99, but to have it as part of my package was the original appeal for me. It's got more "value" than a measly £2.99 and would work well with my package.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by Gb2 View Post

          I was more planning to put some of the free stuff in to the package along with a book I wrote to add more usefulness to the package rather than to sell it on it's own.

          As the risk of upsetting the customers for a couple of quid I wouldn't sell it either.
          The one I bought on ebay was only £2.99, but to have it as part of my package was the original appeal for me. It's got more "value" than a measly £2.99 and would work well with my package.
          All you have to do is include a simple readme file with your package. Tell buyers what you told us - you thought the software would make the book more useful, so you acquired the rights and you're including the software as a bonus.

          If you felt the need, you could even point them to the original developer's page for updates...
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  • Profile picture of the author Gb2
    Like I said, I'm putting together a package and using some re-sell rights stuff in there. Then I found this that I had bought ( with resell rights) came from this site.
    Hey, If they give re-sell right's then that's what it's for, just looks like there is a lot of the GPL with resell too!

    If they don't want it to be sold it shouldn't be licenced that way! I was thinking a lot of it is front end funnel stuff to get them some back end return on.
    Makes perfect sense to me.... Am I wrong?
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  • Profile picture of the author jamjar919
    Programs that are licenced to give away and sell are a big no no for me - People will see it in a package and assume that they are paying for free software.
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  • Profile picture of the author internetsecretbook
    Free is free. But you can develop your own software and, of course, you can sell it.
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  • Profile picture of the author profitsforall
    So you are using the free software to add perceived value to your offer - i.e you have something else to sell.

    I think you could even make a point of stating that you went out of your way to find free software so they wouldn't have to spend anything more than they've spent already. (only worded better than that)
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    • Profile picture of the author Gb2
      Originally Posted by profitsforall View Post

      So you are using the free software to add perceived value to your offer - i.e you have something else to sell.

      I think you could even make a point of stating that you went out of your way to find free software so they wouldn't have to spend anything more than they've spent already. (only worded better than that)
      That's just it profitsforall . My book is a Wedding Photography Guide Book and is aimed at people on a budget giving them tips and ideas to create their own album from the shots taken by friends family and guests at the wedding.

      The book is fine on it's own and I've sold a few 100 copies, but as part of a revamp to the 2.0 version I want to give them a "better" and more "useful" product. So instead of just the book, I'm looking for other relative info and stuff that I can put in the box for them without bumping up the price too much. that's why I was looking at the re-sell rights stuff and I came across the free GPL products to give them too.


      Geoff
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