Hi Rynhardt, Rinhardt wrote:
I think the idea of Open Source Software is generally miss understood. Part of that may be because of the fact that certain groups prefer to call it Free Software, which is associated with freeware. My response: Agreed. I use Linux myself, have done so for a long time, but unlike a lot of people I've actually read the various license agreements. I pretty much understand where the General Public License stands on various issues, but I don't think your average Joe and Jane does. It is just "legal mumbo jumbo" to them. They prefer to think of Linux as a free OS when there certainly are commercial distros like Mandriva, Suse, Red Hat, etc that make money off of selling the books, cds, and technical support. It is just that the sourse code is available on demand if you want it. Unfortunately, based on my discussions with several Linux users on various mailing list they are under some illusion that Linux is free and therefore all software for it should be free too. Rynhardt wrote: Open source software is not freeware and will never be. The idea of Open Source Software is just that the source code should be open and available to any one who would like to study or modify it. That is also the reason that many people including myself prefer to use Linux. If I want my computer to say "hello" every time it begins the boot process, I can do so without having to edit some binary file with a hex editor. Also it encourage the studying of source code. Thus if someone enters the audio gaming community, he/she can immediately find out how a game engine works for instance without having to reinvent the wheel. My reply: Yes, that's exactly what interested me about Linux as well. If there is something I wanted to modify I could make a change in the source, recompile it with gcc, and happily go on my way with my custom program/OS. Admitedly though, this advantage of having the source is really only useful if you are a programmer with the skills to modify'/study it in the first place. For the average Joe/Jane Linux software is often viewed as freeware, and insist that products for Linux remain freeware etc even though that isn't the intent of the GPL. Rynhardt wrote: One thing I've thought about is to put the game itself under an open source license, and sell the sounds and/or music. My reply: That works. I've seen a few games do that. For example, after Loki Games bit the dust ID Software decided to make Quake I open source, putting the source code in the public domain, but the sounds, music, and graphics were under a separate license. There is a lot of advantages to doing this. One, you are still offering the software itself under a open source license allowing potential game developers to use your engine, code, etc for future projects. Second, since the multimedia is under a separate license you can sell the game giving the software away for free but make your money off of the graphics, sounds, and music. The multimedia would be held under standard copyrights while the software is public domain. It is an interesting way of bridging the gap between open source and commercial software. Unfortunately, if there is any kind of product key system etc that can't be released as open source otherwise it would compromise licensing the software. Cheers! --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
