vbPortal is not free anymore.

[Yappi]

Interesting reading here. I can honestly say that I see both sides of the argument. If a product is free and the people who distribute it say that you cannot incorporate it into another product and then charge for it, then you shouldn't be charging for it.

Charging for access to a support forum seems to be a fair thing to do becuase it probably helps offset some costs.

Making the download only available in the members section is a little questionable because it gives the appearance of paying for the product. Explicitly telling people they cannot redistribute seems to be against the GPL.

I've seen many programs available for free but support comes at a price. That is exactly what this one looks like it should be.

[FASherman]

You can always do what PHPNuke themselves do: make the public version two or three versions removed. In order to get the latest and greatest when it is released, you must be a "club member". Otherwise, you must wait 30 days or so before it becomes "publicly available".

Club membership costs not $20/yr but rather $20/mo. PHPNuke can't complain because you are doing exactly what they do so it is consistent wit the original license.

[Tolitz]

hehe, first of all, some facts that weren't bothered to be researched:

vBPortal has a freely downloadable version, which does not require a "donation" ... the only thing that you can't download freely are the alpha/beta of the newest versions, which are open to "members" who donate $20, not per year, but as a one-time donation for the development of the software.

So you CAN download vbportal, even if you don't donate anything ... you just won't be able to take part in the newest versions of it unless you express your support via the $20 donation. This is a thank-you for those who support the software, not exactly payment to use it ... besides, premium member benefits are not exactly a new thing on the Internet.

I don't see a problem there, and frankly, I don't see why it's such a big deal

[Dave-G]

So you CAN download vbportal, even if you don't donate anything ... you just won't be able to take part in the newest versions of it unless you express your support via the $20 donation.

Also they can get the Premium Membership Free & thus the latest version FREE by buying via one of the affilated links Banners, like vBulletin, Photopost etc. All this information on this is contained on the site under Premium membership link