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"Money doesn't interest me" - Ton Roosendaal 2017 Interview

Blender Guru · interview · Watch on YouTube

Tech pioneers & interviewsAnimation & visual effectsHacker culture & free software

What it is

A long interview by Blender Guru with Ton Roosendaal, creator of Blender. They cover Blender's origins, the move to open source, why Ton is not driven by money, Autodesk, and what sets Blender apart from other open source projects.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Recommended as the best account of Blender's history and its user-focused approach as a free software success story.

  • 7 people recommended it
  • 8 different months
  • 6 strong recommendations
  • first 2018, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “I highly encourage to watch the whole interview”

    How Blender became open source rather than abandonware.

    halirutan, 2019-04 · Strong recommendation · in “Why Wolfram Tech Isn’t Open Source”

  2. “I reccomend watching this interview with him”

    Ton Roosendaal says money is only a tool for creating.

    greshario, 2021-05 · Strong recommendation · in “Blender Foundation Annual Report 2020 [pdf]”

  3. “Great interview with Blender Guru”

    Blender's iterative development focused on usability for creatives.

    solarkraft, 2022-05 · Strong recommendation · in “Gimp 3 Beta Released”

  4. “I would highly recommend”

    Ton Roosendaal reflects on Blender's journey from Amiga to crowdfunding.

    invader, 2025-09 · Strong recommendation · in “Ton Roosendaal to step down as Blender chairman and CEO”

  5. “The history of Bender was pretty well explained in a long interview with Ton Roosendaal”

    Long interview explaining Blender's history with Ton Roosendaal.

    dustinmoorenet, 2018-03 · Recommendation · in “Blender’s Prehistory – Traces on Commodore Amiga (1987-1991)”

  6. “if you want to know more about him and his plan for Blender watch this interview”

    Ton Roosendaal's plans for Blender.

    dorena, 2019-06 · Recommendation · in “Blender Is Free Software”

  7. “interesting interview between Ton Roosendaal and Blender Guru about the history”

    Blender's history, including the crowdfunded move to open source.

    Lievelingsduif, 2020-09 · Recommendation · in “Gimp project gets $68.34 monthly”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: blender, open source, ton roosendaal, 3d software, software history

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