mp3tag under GPL, Do you think it would be a good idea to free mp3tag? Options

[Hyogapag]

mp3tag is by far the best software to manage id3tags I know. But I think it could be even better if it was free, I mean open source. There are some bugs I would like to report but I refuse to help to develop closed source software in any way. There are also some features I'd like to implement.
It would also be a solution to port mp3tag under Linux.
I think GPL is the best choice, but something like BSD should also be ok.

This post has been edited by Florian: Feb 28 2009, 17:38

Reason for edit: Removed poll question

[Florian]

Mp3tag licensing is not open for discussion. I suggest using EasyTag or Picard if you prefer to use open source software.

[Hyogapag]

Well, ok. I won't try to convinve you or something like that, but I just would like to know what are your reasons for keeping mp3tag closed, because to me it's kinda mysterious.

[LyricsLover]

You don't have to pay for it. So why do you wanna have it 'free' or as you say 'under GPL'? Florian is very helpfull and active on this project.

In this case, I don't see any advantage if multiple persons work on the same code at the same time.

[Sebastian Mares]

If I recall correctly, some components are licensed for use in commercial products.

[Florian]

A friend of mine used parts of Mp3tag's class library in a commercial product some years ago. This is not the case anymore.

Nevertheless, I don't plan to release Mp3tag as open source. And I really don't understand why people are suggesting this over and over again. There are some open source taggers out there, e.g., Picard or EasyTag and everyone is invited to submit patches and support those projects in any way the could.

Please do so if you prefer open source software.

Kind regards,
Florian

[Florian]

I've removed the poll option from this topic and moved it to General Discussion.

[ack754]

This is my first post here. And will probably be my last...

To me, it sounds like you are trying to hold up the company for cash, a position, large chunks of credit, whatever...

If your ideas are that good, and you don't like what they do with their product, you have some things to think about.

First and foremost, start up your own company.

Second, give your ideas to them. They might actually be good enough to incorporate and you may get a "Thank You!"

Third, leave. Plain and simple. People put a lot of time and effort into their programs, then they turn around and give it away FREE! Sure, they ask for donations, but they're right. They have to buy different programs, upgraded hardware, etc...

It's a shame that this had to be the first post I had to read.

Sad.

Dale

ack754

PS; If I have upset the Owners/Mods, my apologies...

This post has been edited by Florian: Mar 1 2009, 17:56

Reason for edit: removed size=4 tag

[nickless]

I really don't understand why people are suggesting this over and over again.

The reason is really simple, we just want to have a native version of Mp3Tag on the platforms we use. And to achieve this I see only 3 options:

1. convince you to make mp3tag cross-plattform (lots of work for you)
2. make a cross-platform clone (even more work for us)
3. convince you to release the source code (same amount of work as in 1 but everybody can help)

There are some open source taggers out there, e.g., Picard or EasyTag

Yes, there are many taggers out there, but there is one small common problem: they all suck (in most cases). For example EasyTag is just extremely limited in functionality, many others are not even worth mentioning.

I have not seen Pickard before, so thanks for suggestion. As far as I can say after a playing around with it for a couple of minutes - it looks quite flexible (meaning that in theory, it can be extended), but very, very, MusicBrainz-centric. I also could not find an easy way to do simple things like search & replace in a bunch of files.

At the moment I use Mp3Tag under wine, which implies some functionality and usability limitations, but even under wine, Mp3Tag is still by far the best tagger among all commercial, freeware and open source alternatives I've seen so far. It is not perfect, but still has the most advanced set of features, is configurable and easy to use at the same time. I really appreciate the work you put into it, Florian.

Regards,
nickless