In Appreciation of Blender

     Blender is a unique and interesting program.  Originally touted as the open-source attempt at a full on production suite for computer generated content, it has grown into a industry level computer graphics application.  And, even though I the program is available for free from www.blender.org, I think Blender has an amazing place in the world of the GPL to remain free, and yet generate amazing amounts of revenue.
     My sole reason for this idea is that within the world of video production, it’s the content produced that makes the real money.  The companies that create this content spend thousands and thousands of dollars customizing scripts for the specific project they are working on, and for a program like Blender, some of this work can get translated into new features.  Plus, under the GPL, any production company can modify Blender and make it better, which just furthers the capabilities of Blender as a whole.
     So, I don’t see it as farfetched at all to think that one day in the future, the CG program of choice in Hollywood could be Blender, (I mean, heck, even grand old Pixar uses linux for their OS).