In 2002, Blender transitioned from a shareware form to a fully open-source 3D modeling application. This marked the dawn of a new era for Blender, where it would be available to the entire global community for free. For how much longer is this going to remain the case?
Blender is likely to remain free so long as it continues to exist and so long as the Blender Foundation can continue to fund its investment. It is likely to remain free even after the investment has dried up as the GNU general public license protects it. While Blender and its assets remain under this license, it will continue to be free for all.
There is currently no intention from the Blender Foundation ever to change course regarding blenders development and its position in the market as a top-of-the-range open-sourced modeling program.
Why Is Licensing So Important To Blender?
‘Blender is Free, Forever’ is a statement made by Blenders founder Ton Roosendaal in a blog post that you can find on the blender.org website. We also have it available here as a quick link. A huge part of the reason Blender is free for all is it’s licensing.
Blender currently falls under what is known as the GNU General public license. To be more exact, it falls under version two of this license, and as Roosendaal states, it is more than just being open source.
While under this license, Blender is protected from any form of restriction or limitation, particularly if that restriction is financial. In other words, so long as Blender remains under the general public license, it cannot be distributed at cost and will always remain free.
Blender is free to use for any purpose, whether that purpose is creating 3D animations, designing models for 3D printing, or even as a video editing tool, you can use Blender free of charge with no registration, no required Internet connection, and no fees.
This license also prevents off-branch versions of Blender, created by the Blender community, from being distributed at cost. For example, you are permitted under the terms of the license to take the source code of Blender and edited to create your own version of the software. However, when you do so, you agree to the terms of the license, regardless of how much of the original code you change for your build of Blender. Whatever you decide to call, it still falls under this license.
Therefore, not only is Blender itself free from the restriction of financial cost but so are any of the limitless bills that you can create using blenders source code.
Is Blender A Scam Then If It Is Free?
Trust is becoming an increasingly valuable commodity in the modern world, and there will be those who ask the question if an application like Blender is, in fact, a scam because it just sounds too good to be true; you can begin using software like Blender for free.
But Blender is the furthest thing from a scam. Not only does it not require you to pay any fee to use or license the software, but you don’t even need to register any details to begin using the application.
Another question people can ask is whether or not blender is a virus. Again, there must be some sort of hidden catch if it is free. Perhaps when you install the software, it will also install malware onto your device.
Again, this is completely false. Blender is a fully legitimate program run by some brilliant developers, all with the same goal of making the best open-source modeling application you can use. And all this without costing you a single penny.
If you need any further convincing on whether or not Blender is right for you or a risk that is not worth taking, just take a look at all of the different YouTube tutorials and resources that are posted across the Internet for you to view.
How Long Has Blender Been Free?
The blender software has gone through several stages within its life cycle, being made available in different ways. At one point, it was a form of shareware, and at another point. It was a freeware form with a version of Blender available to the public but then had additional features locked away.
That would all change once the Blender Foundation was created to continue the development of Blender 3D. In the year 2002, a new crowdfunding campaign labeled ‘Free Blender’ was started to raise $100,000 to continue blenders development.
This goal was met within a matter of months, and by September 7th of that same year, the Blender Foundation was able to release the source code of the application for the first time. In February of 2003, Blender version 2.26 was made available to the global community. This was a landmark version of the software because it was the first one that was regarded as truly open source.
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