irrKlang (pro) is free for non-commercial use now
Posted on:June 27 2007
The audio library irrKlang is out now in version 0.9.1, including some new features and - as announced - there is a license change making it free for non-commercial use. Here is the background:
In the beginning of this month, a new version of irrKlang was released but some of the new features were only available when purchasing a license. This license model has been chosen because irrKlang was originally intended to be free, also for commercial use. Unfortunately, a lot of users - especially people with an Irrlicht background - are using irrKlang in free or open source 3D projects and need those features which were only available in the commercial version of irrKlang, and began to send mails to me, asking for a license change. I recieved a huge amount of mails like this and because it made sense, the license has been changed now: irrKlang can now be used with all those features completely free for non-commercial use. If you are using irrKlang in a commercial product and making money with it anyway, you have to pay a small license fee.
I think that license model is more fair and widely accepted, a lot of other programming libraries are doing it this way. I hope everybody is ok with this now, happy programming. :)
Comments:
Steve
Quote2007-06-27 11:14:00
I think you hav to update the Site http://www.ambiera.com/irrklang/irrklang_pro.html, because it could be confusing.
One question: Is IrrKlang pro free for shareware games AND non-profit games, or only for free games?
One question: Is IrrKlang pro free for shareware games AND non-profit games, or only for free games?
Donner
Quote2007-06-27 11:21:00
Right, thought about making irrKlang open source, but I don't have a good feeling about it currently, because it is easier to abuse this. But it's also possible that I change my mind again, let's see.
Donner: Right, going to clear this a bit.
Donner: Right, going to clear this a bit.
niko
Quote2007-06-27 11:36:00
Nice!
redmonk
Quote2007-06-27 15:00:00
Niko will you have my children?
SkaCahToa
Quote2007-06-27 20:44:00
Bah :(
"and making money with it anyway"
How about writing that into the license, I made a loss with my last game :)
"and making money with it anyway"
How about writing that into the license, I made a loss with my last game :)
bubbles
Quote2007-06-28 13:51:00
Niko I got a question: 0.9 non-pro is free, even for commercial games, right?
Why don't have a small version that doesn't contain all the 3d stuff and what the pro can do, which is even free for commercial products?
The thing is that I want to create a multiplayer game that *could* get commercial (as small shareware maybe, I dunno yet), and I don't need all the big effects. I'll stay with 0.9 as long as there is a small irrKlang version that provides a licence that allows free use for commercial games - I don't want to steal your money, it is just that I don't have very much (pupil) but I want to have the possibility to make small commercial projects out of it, without needing all the big effects.
I hope you will think about such a licence type.
(Again: is 0.9 free for commercial games? I thought it was. Do I need to put something like "Made with IrrKlang" or "Uses this and that library" in it(Like the independent JPEG-workgroup stuff)? As far as I remember, 0.9 non-pro was free without any notices (even commercial), but I want to make sure I don't break any laws.)
Greetings from Germany
Why don't have a small version that doesn't contain all the 3d stuff and what the pro can do, which is even free for commercial products?
The thing is that I want to create a multiplayer game that *could* get commercial (as small shareware maybe, I dunno yet), and I don't need all the big effects. I'll stay with 0.9 as long as there is a small irrKlang version that provides a licence that allows free use for commercial games - I don't want to steal your money, it is just that I don't have very much (pupil) but I want to have the possibility to make small commercial projects out of it, without needing all the big effects.
I hope you will think about such a licence type.
(Again: is 0.9 free for commercial games? I thought it was. Do I need to put something like "Made with IrrKlang" or "Uses this and that library" in it(Like the independent JPEG-workgroup stuff)? As far as I remember, 0.9 non-pro was free without any notices (even commercial), but I want to make sure I don't break any laws.)
Greetings from Germany
Jo
Quote2007-06-30 13:27:00
yes, 0.9 is free, but as you can read in the changes.txt, I'd recommend to switch to 0.9.1, because of a few bugs in that version.
If you create a small game that _could_ get commercial, I'd say just use irrklang. You wouldn't have to pay anything until it isn't really commercial. And once it is commercial and cannot afford a license nevertheless, just contact me and I think we can find a solution :)
If you create a small game that _could_ get commercial, I'd say just use irrklang. You wouldn't have to pay anything until it isn't really commercial. And once it is commercial and cannot afford a license nevertheless, just contact me and I think we can find a solution :)
niko
Quote2007-07-01 07:29:00
Cool! But I hope you would not get starved because of the license change :P
bull
Quote2007-07-01 08:00:00
Then buy some t-shirts to avoid him starving ;-)
hybrid
Quote2007-07-01 11:47:00
That library have alot of bugs. I dont use it. Better is OpenAL for audio. I never will buy that. That should be open source like irrlicht and another.
ddd
Quote2007-07-01 21:20:00
irrklang is great, working like a charm for our project. Thanks for all the work. niko, delete ddd's comment, presumably fake and from the competition.
eriod
Quote2007-07-01 21:57:00
I'm not going to delete any comments here, but I also don't know what ddd is talking about. Except for a small problem in the Linux version caused by old Linux versions and not by irrKlang itself, there is currently no known bug in the latest version.
niko
Quote2007-07-02 17:28:00
Too bad this is not GPL :(
Money money money...
Money money money...
heroic
Quote2007-07-26 21:04:00
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Assuming there's no startlingly innovative algorithms that you don't want to reveal it might be worth considering what the practical difference for you actually is between GPL'ing and this.