Hi Lincoln,
(CC'ing Farsides mailing-list and attaching the thread history)
On Mon, 2011-02-28 at 11:27 -0300, Lincoln de Sousa wrote:
> > Coming from France, that sounds almost like a dream. : ) The political
> > climate for Free Software has been pretty terrible here, for years. It
> > could certainly be worse, but we haven't seen much good coming from the
> > government in quite a while!
> >
> > It will be refreshing to hear a good example of how things could be if
> > some people, over here, stopped a bit to think twice : )
>
> Hehe, but it's not so good here. People like to talk about free software
> but there's a hard way to follow before people actually start using and
> writing free software here.
: ) I can certainly see some of that in some areas in France, especially
businesses in which open source has become a buzzword, but who just
don't get it and don't do anything about it.
> > Absolutely. A first early alpha version of the code of our first game, a
> > Web-based secret agent game, is actually already available - it's under
> > AGPLv3 + CC-BY-SA, code and data alike:
> > https://code.launchpad.net/hackit
>
> Just perfect. It's *really* free. After reading this, I just can say
> count on my help with anything you need to make your studio better :)
Really happy to hear it! Many thanks in advance for the help : )
> Hehe, very nice stuff. I got stuck in the `hack it' game but I'll try
> it again.
Yup, the minigame isn't great, we have got lots of complaints about it.
We'll need to either improve it (it was coded in a rush for the Mozilla
Game On deadline, and is not very accessible right now) or remove it
altogether imho.
> I guess my best shots are going to be with my network of friends. I
> know a lot of developers and small companies in Belo Horizonte (my
> home town), São Paulo and Brasília that would be nice to talk about
> it.
That would be amazing - thanks so much for this. Would you need anything
from us to be able to have those conversations?
The best would be to be able to organize a few individual meetings when
we come to Brazil - do you think it would be possible, given the
distance between the locations?
We are currently planning the dates, it will likely be in 1-2 months, so
let me know if you need more time to have those discussions.
> > Yes, it's the same thing virtually everywhere - I've been working in the
> > online game industry for a while, and I've met very few developers, and
> > virtually no game designer or artist that really had the free software
> > spirit. It really needs to change, especially considering how some
> > development studios treat their communities.
>
> We definitely need to change this!
Yup!
> >> I work for Debian, packaging some xmpp and javascript stuff. I also
> >> package and maintain an almost dead game called Freecraft.
> >
> > Oh, so you like games too... We definitely need to talk. : )
>
> Hehe, I'm not a good player, but I like to hack things like this. The
> only game I can say I know how to play is OpenArena.
On my side I'm more RPG/RTS/MMO/Adventure, but I won't claim I'm a
master player! Would be nice if we could find a game to play while we
are in Brazil. : ) Any plans to visit Sao Paulo soon?
> >> It would be amazing to meet you and share my point of view about it
> >> with you.
> >
> > Agreed. We should be deciding on the dates soon - if you think of any
> > event or date that would be good, let me know.
>
> Humm, I'll look for a FS meeting. The first one that comes to my mind
> is our International Free Software Forum (FISL) that happens in 29/Jun
> in Porto Alegre.
> But It depends on your travel date. Feel free to choose a good date
> to you.
Yep, the FISL would be perfect, but it's still a bit far away. May be
interesting to come back for it, but hopefully we'll be able to visit
earlier.
> > Thanks for taking the time to answer me so well.
>
> I'm here to help :D
Many thanks again : )
Xavier.
--- Begin Message ---
On 02/24/2011 09:33 AM, Xavier Antoviaque wrote:
Hi Lincoln,
Hello there,
Aline was kind enough to give me your contact, as I'm currently trying
to get in touch with the Brazilian Free Software/Open Source community.
Thanks Aline for introducing me to Xavier. I'm glad to answer this
message, it seems to be really interesting.
We're building a Free Software video game studio, and we are
investigating the possibility of opening an antenna in Brazil. I have
heard a lot of praises about the Brazilian Free Software community -
which by many accounts around me seem to be one of the strongest. Also,
my wife being Brazilian, on a personal level I've increasingly become
curious and interested in the Brazilian culture.
Hehe, I'm not agreeing because I'm from Brazil, but yep, our free
software community is growing fast and strong. With a strong relation
with culture. While Lula was our president some very important
progress was reached. His during his government he strongly recommended
using free (as in freedom) software in every public stuff. And the most
important. It was done not only because of the economical point of view
but because of the freedom itself.
Are you planning to release software wrote by our studio under a free
software license? That would be amazing!
Since we are currently looking to grow the team, I thought it would be
nice to see if we could hire some of the new recruits in Brazil.
It's amazing to read. There are a lot of very experienced developers
here in Brazil that would love to be part of it. Free software and
game development are unfortunately quite far here. Getting it together
can fill an empty slot on the marketing.
Aline tells me you're a developer on one of the Linux distros (Fedora?),
so even if you're personally already busy with another project(s), you
must have a good vision of the Brazilian community and what it's like
for Free Software developers.
I work for Debian, packaging some xmpp and javascript stuff. I also
package and maintain an almost dead game called Freecraft.
We're planning to visit Brazil soon, and I would be very happy to have a
coffee or lunch while we are there to learn of any advice you may have
for us - it would be really helpful to get your vision.
It would be amazing to meet you and share my point of view about it
with you.
Thanks a lot,
Xavier.
Cheers,
--
Lincoln de Sousa <[email protected]>
xmpp:[email protected]
Blog: http://git.comum.org
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On Thu, 2011-02-24 at 19:07 -0300, Lincoln de Sousa wrote:
> Hehe, I'm not agreeing because I'm from Brazil, but yep, our free
> software community is growing fast and strong. With a strong relation
> with culture. While Lula was our president some very important
> progress was reached. His during his government he strongly recommended
> using free (as in freedom) software in every public stuff. And the most
> important. It was done not only because of the economical point of view
> but because of the freedom itself.
Coming from France, that sounds almost like a dream. : ) The political
climate for Free Software has been pretty terrible here, for years. It
could certainly be worse, but we haven't seen much good coming from the
government in quite a while!
It will be refreshing to hear a good example of how things could be if
some people, over here, stopped a bit to think twice : )
> Are you planning to release software wrote by our studio under a free
> software license? That would be amazing!
Absolutely. A first early alpha version of the code of our first game, a
Web-based secret agent game, is actually already available - it's under
AGPLv3 + CC-BY-SA, code and data alike:
https://code.launchpad.net/hackit
And if you're adventurous, you can see it online here:
http://humanityprojectonline.com/
Don't expect something beautiful and polished though, it's still very
early in the development.
> It's amazing to read. There are a lot of very experienced developers
> here in Brazil that would love to be part of it.
Do you know what would be the best way to reach developers who would be
interested?
> Free software and game development are unfortunately quite far here.
> Getting it together can fill an empty slot on the marketing.
Yes, it's the same thing virtually everywhere - I've been working in the
online game industry for a while, and I've met very few developers, and
virtually no game designer or artist that really had the free software
spirit. It really needs to change, especially considering how some
development studios treat their communities.
> I work for Debian, packaging some xmpp and javascript stuff. I also
> package and maintain an almost dead game called Freecraft.
Oh, so you like games too... We definitely need to talk. : )
> It would be amazing to meet you and share my point of view about it
> with you.
Agreed. We should be deciding on the dates soon - if you think of any
event or date that would be good, let me know.
Thanks for taking the time to answer me so well.
Xavier.
PS: Do you mind if I include the Farsides public mailing-list in CC? It
would allow the other contributors to stay in the loop.
--- End Message ---
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