[talldayo]

The other day someone asked me "why do we expect all software to be free?", and I think Blender is responsible for keeping my expectations so high. I love using Blender; I love reading about its new updates and learning how new features work. Trying the Eevee renderer for the first time, compositing multiple scenes with audio, tuning my render settings for the first big animation... all of these experiences were so life-affirming to me. Truly hard to believe that I've felt so much joy from a little exe installer I got from the internet for free.

Go use Blender. It's a recommendation I can make without reservation or concern about Cloud-connected Launchers or subscription service deals later down the line. It's software so good that not paying for it is a surreal human experience.

[LarsDu88]

Understanding the awesomeness of Blender is when I realized that the fate of all software is to be commoditized.

It is almost an anomaly that the highest market cap companies are software companies until you realize that most of their value actually comes from network effects (Meta) or actual hardware (Cloud providers and Apple)

[glimshe]

Hear hear. Blender is better than most commercial software. But I don't think its model is easy to be emulated in all software areas - they created an amazing product in a high demand area full of interesting algorithms and, at the same time, dominated by poor quality software. There other low hanging fruit out there, but it's hard to expect the same quality, commitment and success for, let's say, accounting software.

[steve_adams_86]

One of the things I appreciate so much about blender is seeing how it has evolved and improved so dramatically. I initially used it maybe 20–25 years ago when my dad started telling me Linux was going to take over computing, and all my expensive 3d modelling and animation programs were going to get replaced by this "open source" software called Blender 3d.

I thought he was full of it (as teenagers will), but over time I've come to see where he was coming from, and Blender's progress as an open source application has been staggering.

It's at the point where I'd pick it over several commercial options, and genuinely prefer it. It's great software.

Something I appreciate about it is how inspiring it is to see what people can accomplish given time and determination. It's a wonderful product which I didn't think was possible as a kid. I didn't expect it to become what it is at all.