Why free?
Why is Mundil free?
A few plain words from me about money, and why a free download has a donation box beside it.
Why is it free?
I make these programs because I love astronomy. I wanted software that takes the hard work out of photographing the Sun, the planets and the deep sky, and I did not think anyone should have to pay before they had even tried it.
So Helia, Annora and Valerian are free. You can use them, share them with a friend, and look inside to see how they work. The full program source comes with every download, and a public copy goes on GitHub, one version behind the newest.
That is what people mean by “open source”. The licence behind it, called the GPL, is simply the licence that keeps the programs free for everyone to use, share and improve. You do not need to know any more than that to enjoy them.
Do I have to pay?
No. When you download, you choose what to pay, and nothing is a perfectly fine amount. Nobody is turned away and nobody is chased.
Why do you ask for a donation?
Because free for you is not free for me. Making and looking after these programs costs real money and a great deal of time. If they give you pleasure and you can spare something, it helps me keep them going, and keeps them free for everyone else too.
What does my donation pay for?
- Computers to build and test the programs.
- Macs, which are needed to make Mac installers.
- The yearly Apple developer subscription.
- Building and testing for different kinds of computer: Windows, Mac, Linux, ARM machines such as the Raspberry Pi, and Android in future.
- Website hosting and domain names.
- The many hours of coding, testing and helping people with questions.
Why are a few extras not free?
A few optional extras are closed, which means the code behind them is not shared, and they are paid for. They are remote processing and some paid add-ons.
Remote processing is the clearest example. Your pictures are worked on by powerful computers of ours instead of yours, and those computers are expensive to buy and to run. I cannot give that away and stay afloat.
The money from these extras helps pay for the free parts. The programs themselves stay free.
Thank you for reading. However you choose to download, I hope the programs bring you many happy hours under the sky. Clear skies, Laurence.