I just stumbled upon this site
http://www.junctioncomputers.com/inksca ... ics-suite/

I've never heard about "junction computers" and site looks like it is being developed. It seems to be selling inkscape as part of its alleged "Inkscape vector graphics suite".

Hey that's illegal! Shouldn't we take it down? Sue them!!

Sorry, Inkscape is released under GPL2, which means anyone can sell it. Though why anyone would want to buy free software is beyond me.

The site says about the product:

Inkscape Vector Graphics Suite is the lowest cost, supported and full featured vector art creator and editor. Our product has been built upon the award winning Inkscape software platform and expands upon its ability to handle file formats. All tools are provided and integrated into an easy to use installer. This W3C compliant vector art creator is a perfect tool for artists, graphic designers and web designers.

a s s e s s m e n t

• They appear (from the text) to be distributing a copy of Inkscape that comes with extra features, namely to expand upon Inkscape's ability to handle file formats.
• From what I can gather by their difficult-to-navigate website, while offering the product (modified Inkscape) in boxed form, chances are their real sales come from software installations in whiteboxes (no name or generic desktop PCs).
• If there is a breach of contract here, I believe the issue would be making modifications to Inkscape while not releasing the changes to the public (posting the source code as the GPL states).
• As to whether someone can add a price tag to it? JunctionComputers would likely claim the $17.99 was to offset their own additional code (since their "product is built upon the award winning ... platform and expands" on it), website upkeep along with the cost of packaging and CD ROM production.
• Technically speaking... I don't believe it's illegal to "sell" Inkscape, per se. The GPL contract states that the software must be distributed with the GPL licence and source code.

On the bright side:

1. The site is poorly maintained making it clumsy to wade through. Clicking the "About Us" link at the top leaves the casual surfer at a blank page. Clearly not the best way to promote a company on the net in these days of fierce competition.
2. I clicked "Members" under Product Documentation only to find--brace yourselves--one member. And that member is the Webmaster who was active two weeks, four days ago. It's likely they're not selling large volumes of Inkscape.
3. JunctionCompters might sell their enhanced version of Inkscape to a few thousand people who'll be a bit wiser once they head over to the Inkscape website in search of upgrades or patches only to discover the software is freely downloadable.
4. A lawsuit could be pending for JunctionComputers if they admitted adding new code to Inkscape without proof they made the source code available for download. Their financial benefits from selling an illegally enhanced Inkscape might make this an easy win--but that's for lawyers to decide.

I believe the site's lack of professionalism will cause people to look elsewhere. Suing JunctionComputers? Hmmm. I am not sure why. While their methods are a little shady, the bright side is that Inkscape's name is getting out there... and the real harm is to JunctionComputers when their customers realize they've been robbed $18.00 + tax and installation. I'd say they're shooting themselves in the foot quite efficiently.

SIGH!!!

Well, at the moment there are no download links or means for purchase. I think you're right that the site is still under development. While no price is shown for the "inkscape suite", that I could find, I did find a page showing $17.99 for the "PDF Creation Suite". So it does look like they're planning to sell something with Inkscape in the name.

I read the Inkscape GNU General Public License, and apparently it IS permitted to charge a fee for "distributing" the program:
"You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and
you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee"
So maybe they will call it a distribution fee or something.

My best guess is that the site is or will become nefarious. Whether they will purvey malware within some Inkscape code, or whether it will be more of a phishing setup in the shopping cart, or maybe the site itself will contain scripts or malware, I can't tell what they might be planning. It's really hard to tell at this point. If the site itself becomes dangerous, then our various internet security programs will prevent us from browsing to it, or at least prevent any unauthorized downloads (in Windows, it would be called a Restricted Site). If they put malware into some download, then it will get a bad rating in programs like McAfee Site Advisor.

I guess most open source or other free programs have had this same problem, and I honestly don't know how they handle it. I'm confused about the difference between the GNU License and copyright. If the people responsible for this site try to claim Inkscape (or the other software they appear to be offering) as their own, it seems to me that would be a copyright violation, and therefore subject to legal actions. But I seriously doubt they will do that. That would attract too much attention and cause them a headache. These guys either want an easy way to make some money, or a "respectable" way to purvey their malware, or acquire personal info (phish).

But I'm glad you posted about it. I'm sure the developers will want to know about it, if they don't already. If any copyright issue develops, they'll know what to do. I think all we can really do (in this forum) is make sure people know that it's free, and that the safest place to get it is from Inkscape.org, i.e. - Sourceforge.

Oops! Hi BobSongs, you posted while I was typing. You found more info than I did. Did you actually find any download links, or means for purchase? So far, I haven't....

Wait, BobSongs and shawncorey both referred to "GPL Public License", but my copy says "GNU Public License"

Edit
Oh ok, now I found the working shopping cart. It's not even encrypted!

Yes. It's possible to buy Inkscape for $17.99.

But I think they'd argue "Costs". Packaging, CD production, shipping, blah blah.

My guess is: they post the product on their webpage to give in-house sales credibility.

brynn wrote:Wait, BobSongs and shawncorey both referred to "GPL Public License", but my copy says "GNU Public License"

Hmm, the GNU (GNU is Not Unix) license might be a little more harsh about exchanging money for a GNU licensed product than the GPL. The licenses aren't written in difficult to understand Legalese... let's see what we can come up with.

I finally found the working shopping cart, which defaults to 2 copies for $35.something. It's not even encrypted!

The GNU agreement online is a bit beefier than the one embedded in Inkscape's "About Inkscape" option.

GPL 3

The quote about selling Inkscape does come from Inkscape's About Inkscape box though. The lawsuit would have to lean on changes made to Inkscape without said changes being made public in any way.

Ooohh, I see! The license is GNU GPL! I was confused (big surprise lol).

brynn wrote:I finally found the working shopping cart, which defaults to 2 copies for $35.something. It's not even encrypted!

True.

Again, my impression is that buying online is not done frequently if at all. It's probably there for a "web presence" when the customer is deciding what he wants in a PC when standing in the shop. The salesman turns the monitor to the customer displaying the low prices of their software. He recommends these valuable additions to the client's new Win7 computer.

My assessment is JunctionComputers is nothing more than a tempest in a teapot.

By the way, brynn: Where DO you find all those LOVELY emotes!! Is there a link you can give us? Such pretty emotes, they are, yessss my precious....

brynn wrote:Ooohh, I see! The license is GNU GPL! I was confused (big surprise lol).

GPL = GNU Public Licence

Inkscape is released under version 2 of GPL, not the current version 3.

BobSongs,
Well, I guess that smiley/emoties have gone out of style, but I really love and enjoy them. I've spent a lot of time over the years, collecting them....then a lot more time uploading most of them to an account at ImageShack....then when my beloved SmileyPad went defunct, I've created my own sort of smiley manager to access them easily. It's just an OpenOffice doc with the smiley/emotie image-links. It doesn't have the drag and drop beauty that SmileyPad did, but it works for me. From time to time, I still enjoy looking for new ones.

I don't mind sharing them, although you might want to use your own host. If you want to PM me your email, I could send you a copy. (There's no attachments in PMs.)

shawnhcorey wrote:GPL = GNU Public Licence

Oh, well that IS confusing. But thanks

Just wanted to share my humble opinion on the OP subject. Well, before we villianize the company selling an enchanced Inkscape - I'd like to remind people that there's 2 sides to every story, people do have to make a living, somehow, someway, and not everyone can give away an open source product. If they've really enhanced it, the price $17.99 isn't outrageous, there's a lot of users that would gladly pay it to make life easier (especially people making a living with Inkscape's end product). To me, it's all about whether or not Inkscape allows it to be sold, and it does from what was said above. I think I'd have a bigger issue if there were selling it for a couple hundred dollars, but, it sounds like they're only charging for the enhancements that they've spent the time developing. Sure, it's be nice and wonderful if they'd hand the coding over to the developers so everyone can enjoy and use it, but like I said, everyone has to make a living, and life ain't free.....

Who said it was enhanced? Under GPL, they can sell it as is.

The site says about the product:

Inkscape Vector Graphics Suite is the lowest cost, supported and full featured vector art creator and editor. Our product has been built upon the award winning Inkscape software platform and expands upon its ability to handle file formats. All tools are provided and integrated into an easy to use installer. This W3C compliant vector art creator is a perfect tool for artists, graphic designers and web designers. (emphasis mine)

They are free to sell the product, they are free to modify the product. I agree with both points.

Conclusion: the company should be free to sell Inkscape. The company can even add enhancements to Inkscape for the benefit of their customers. These were never the issue. Everything I've posted has been to say there's not much of an issue here.

The only area where anyone would have a case: adding code to Inkscape without sharing that code with others. The enhancements to the software might be something as simple as exporting to JPG format, something Inkscape wouldn't add anyway.

Essentially, tempest in a teapot.

BobSongs wrote:The only area where anyone would have a case: adding code to Inkscape without sharing that code with others. Chances are the enhancements to the software is probably something as simple as exporting in JPG format, something Inkscape wouldn't want to add anyway.

Chances are it's another piece of free software that does the conversion. And it may only be an addon, not a modification.

shawnhcorey wrote:

brynn wrote:Ooohh, I see! The license is GNU GPL! I was confused (big surprise lol).

GPL = GNU Public Licence

Huh I thought that was General Public Licence.
Anyways, I should have carefully read the licence, so ok may we can't sue them. Like Bobsongs said, it is clear that either they are not making a lot of sales or that they are still not properly established. I still think however that they should be kept under a watch, in case they violate the licence by not providing the added code. Thanks to everyone for responding.

I didn't mean to villianize them. The site is so difficult to navigate that initially I didn't find any significant content, including a working shopping cart or download links. That's what made me think it might be a spoofed site, or worse. But since then, I have found the right page, and agree with BobSongs.

They may or may not have "enhanced" Inkscape. And unless they would provide a complimentary copy for someone to investigate, we'll have to wait for someone who is willing to buy a copy to learn what it actually contains

shawnhcorey wrote:

BobSongs wrote:The only area where anyone would have a case: adding code to Inkscape without sharing that code with others. Chances are the enhancements to the software is probably something as simple as exporting in JPG format, something Inkscape wouldn't want to add anyway.

Chances are it's another piece of free software that does the conversion. And it may only be an addon, not a modification.

Hah! You're right, Shawn. Most likely the case.

Well I for one am glad we solved this case quickly. Now to don my deerskin cap and pipe hoping another case will show up soon.