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Hi,<BR>
<BR>
I write to you today to share an exciting news - almost four years after the initial Ryzom.org initiative, <B>Ryzom has just been released as Free Software</B> by Winch Gate.<BR>
<BR>
I realize a lot has happened in four years, but I believe this is a great news for Free Software, and a confirmation and recognition that all our efforts back then were worth it.<BR>
<BR>
So, I wanted to take the time to thank you all again for what you contributed to do - there is no question this wouldn't happen today without what you did in 2006.<BR>
<BR>
And if you are still interested in helping out, Winch Gate has just opened a <A HREF="http://dev.ryzom.com/">website for the new Free Software project</A>. Here is also a copy of their announcement:<BR>
<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B><I>Ryzom is now the first commercial MMORPG completely Open Source</I></B><I> and the <A HREF="http://www.fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</A> joins us in this initiative. If you don't know what open source software is, you'll find an explanation on <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software">wikipedia</A>.</I><BR>
<BR>
<I>The whole source code of Ryzom (client, server and tools) is now under the <A HREF="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html">GNU AGPLv3</A> Open Source license.</I><BR>
<BR>
<I>But we go further! We have also made available all the Ryzom art (textures, 3D objects, animations, particle effects) under the <A HREF="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike</A> license.</I><BR>
<BR>
<I>For you as a Ryzom player, nothing changes. The game continues to be pay-to-play to help pay for the cost of development and running of Ryzom. Your financial support is essential for us and it's only thanks to you that Ryzom is still alive today. The game will continue to be developed by the same team as today.</I><BR>
<BR>
<I>If you are a developer, you can now take the source code and/or the art assets of Ryzom to make your own MMORPG or any other project.</I><BR>
<BR>
<I><A HREF="http://media.ryzom.com">Ryzom free art asset portal</A></I><BR>
<I><A HREF="http://dev.ryzom.com/projects/ryzom/wiki">Ryzom free development portal</A></I><BR>
<BR>
<I>We rely on you to spread this news as widely as possible around you, on blogs, forums, <A HREF="http://digg.com/programming/The_MMORPG_Ryzom_goes_Free_Software">digg</A>, <A HREF="http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/c0ja2/breakthrough_for_free_software_gamingryzom/">Reddit</A>, facebook, ...</I><BR>
<BR>
<I>You can read the full Press Release <A HREF="http://dev.ryzom.com/news/13">here</A>.</I><BR>
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