Ahh, this is really terrible news.  If all parts of the server code are
closed source, it means that:

1. The community won't be able to fix exploits in the server code.  Frozen
Sand does not seem to have their shit together when it comes to fixing
server exploits.  The community has taken over this job because of Frozen
Sand's lack of interest in this department.

2. The community won't be able to add "hooks" into the server code for
additional features such as custom distributed ban lists (where each game
server communicates with a "ban server").  There are countless other such
features that people have worked on.  All of this work will go to waste if
we can't use our code for the new Urban Terror.  Many hours have been spent
writing such code to help us administer our servers.

3. If they are using Q3 1.32b for the server, it means that they won't have
all the latest fixes that were made in ioquake3.  It's like starting all
over again.  I bet people will be able to crash the servers the first week
the new game comes out by trying old exploits, or doing diffs between old
ioquake3 and new ioquake3.

4. Without the source for the server engine, we have to rely on Frozen Sand
to compile the server code for each system that servers typically run on.
For example FreeBSD 6, FreeBSD 7, FreeBSD 8, Linux, Windows, OpenBSD,
MacOSX, multiply that by different architectures and so on and so forth.
Well I can say, I expect to _not_ be able to run UrT servers on my FreeBSD
servers any longer, unless it's under Linux emulation.

Is it time for me to find a new hobby?  It _really_ sounds like this game is
going to shit with their proposed plans.  Are there any other cool games
like Urban Terror that are leaning more in the open source direction?

- Rambetter


On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 9:08 PM, Zack Middleton <zturtle...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I do not known much about Urban Terror, nor the intentions of Frozen
> Sand, but I think I understand the licensing.
>
> Frozen Sand (presumably) purchased a proprietary license for quake3
> source code from id Software. This means Frozen Sand can change the
> quake3 engine ("ioquake3 equivalent" code) and game logic without
> releasing the changes. Urban Terror will not be required to have any
> open source code, they would be able to release the engine or game
> logic if they wish. The reason to license the quake3 code is so they
> don't have to release the engine code, so it is unlikely that they
> will.
>
> I do not see any GPL violations, it will be based on the quake3 code
> that they have a proprietary license that allows them to use it closed
> source (Frozen Sand said was quake3 1.32b). However, this means Frozen
> Sand cannot add any code from ioquake3 or add any other quake3 GPL
> code.
>
> The part that seemed questionable was reusing the code from
> "UrbanTerror Bumpy Engine by TwentySeven" which is based on ioquake3,
> can the changes which were release GPL be used with the proprietary
> license? id Software was able to use the quake3 code close source for
> QuakeLive after they release the code under the GPL, so its okay to
> use GPL source code with a proprietary license if all of the
> contributers are okay with it?
>
> Zack Middleton
>
> On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 6:58 PM, eviljoel <evilj...@linux.com> wrote:
> > Yeah, I'm pretty confused after reading that.  Might be a GPL violation.
> >
> > Later,
> > EJ
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 6:24 PM, Nerius Landys <nlan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> To be able to do all that, Frozen Sand is going to ship as an official
> >>> Q3 licensee, forked properly from the 1.32b Quake sources. The GPL
> >>> stuff we’ve made public releases of (IoUrbanTerror 4.1 and IOBumpy)
> >>> will still have their sources available, but there won’t be another
> >>> Q3/GPL’d Engine Urban Terror release. From the next version on out,
> >>> Urban Terror will be its own standalone game with its own engine and
> >>> no longer a mod. This means we can do the tech we want instead of
> >>> having to keep backwards compatibility with vanilla Q3.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Can someone explain to me what this means, if they know?  Is the above
> >> paragraph worded poorly, or am I just really unfamiliar with the Q3
> engine,
> >> its licenses, and so on?
> >>
> >> What I would really like to know is, will any source code be available
> for
> >> the community's viewing pleasure in Urban Terror HD?  In particular, I
> want
> >> to know if I will be able to view and modify the "ioquake3 equivalent"
> code
> >> for the server-side.  Frozen Sand apparently isn't able to maintain
> their
> >> server source code against exploits and serious bugs.  The community
> (such
> >> as myself) have been doing that for them by applying really ugly
> band-aid
> >> solutions to the ioquake3 code.
> >>
> >> I'm really disappointed.  Its seems that UrT is heading more towards a
> >> closed-source path rather than an open-source one.   Maybe it's time for
> me
> >> to find a new game?  I've been so involved in the UrT community, but now
> >> things seem to be headed for the worse.  Or am I wrong?
> >>
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