>The UI!
Hi,
I agree with Anthony on this. The UI of the actual application is *very*
important here (it is always, with a Mac application, but especially with
OC).
>>(2) I believe that the collaborative aspects are the most important for
>>the success and long-term viability of this team effort. Without a
>>solid infrastructure and some shared freely-agreed-upon rules, our best
>>efforts might be sabotaged by various conflicts. The licencing issue,
Alain,
it is true that we need a working infrastructure, but as we have seen few
results thus far (as you had to re-create the whole system from scratch
after the thief's actions), we overlooked it somewhat. I'm glad you had the
time to eork on it and that the Server is now coming back. I'm also happy
as this means we'll soon have more of you on the lists again (you were sort
of "out of business" for a while). So, glad to have you (and the server
<smirk>) back!
>Well, the licencing issue is pretty much a non-issue presently: The people
>who write the stuff will decide a licence. I can't force Uli -- and should
>not be able for force -- to accept the LGPL, and simularly no one can force
>me -- or should be able to force me -- to accept a clause forbidding sale
>of Interpreter.
Of course, but the trouble comes when we plug them all together. The
differing licenses may cause us to drop a certain implementation (e.g. if I
suddenly requested everyone using XBlockFile had to shell out $100 to me,
you'd have to go and look for something different, setting you back a few
seconds until you have a new file format).
So, it'd be good if we made clear what license everything developed for OC
will be under. Technically I don't mind even a PD license, but I'd feel
much better if we had a license that makes sure everyone who uses OC (be it
that he DLed it from the UFP site or bought it on CD-ROM) can add to it and
look at the sources to fix bugs, and I also want people to be able to use
OpenCard to create commercial applications of the caliber of Myst.
PD would be a bit weak in that it'd allow people to compile OC and sell it
w/o the sources and w/o a note where they can get the sources. So, if we
added a clause that the URL of the UFP web site had to be included and
maybe a "Made with OpenCard" logo (It can be in the second page of the
about screen, or in a read-me file, I don't care, it just has to be in
there somewhere), I'd be a happy camper. Or we could require people who
distribute OpenCard to ship along the sources (at least the original ones
they based their work on).
>The programmers, artists, etc. who have their actual intellectual property
>in OpenCard obvoisly have to agree on some terms under which to put
>OpenCard out, but that's long into the future.
Well, artists of sample stacks could just copyright the stack (including
the graphics) but as real Open Source everything that's part of OpenCard
should be free for personal use. Of course, we could provide special
licenses for icons, graphics etc. which only allows that they be used in an
OpenCard stack, and nowhere else ?
>More explosive is the line, "where commercial interests might cloud our
>community-spirit."
>Because, quite frankly, I don't think any of us are here except that we
>have something -- a replacement for a needed software product -- to gain.
>At least I hope that's the case. And I don't think that there is anything
>wrong with commercial interests, and everything wrong with
>"community-spirit" -- at least in the sence it is normally held to mean. No
>one here should be under any obligation to contribute any work; any work
>forced out of people will be lower than par in quality, and is wrong,
>besides.
I don't think people won't create quality if they don't get money out of
it. But the main thing is true: Most of the people working on OC are doing
this because they want to get back what HyperCard was/is to them. So, I
agree that both commercial interests and community spirit are important
here. But to have everyone gain from this, OpenCard has to be free.
Everybody contributes and what they get from that is OpenCard and what they
can do with OpenCard. Nothing more, except maybe experience and their name
in the about box.
Cheers,
-- M. Uli Kusterer
------------------------------------------------------------
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'The Witnesses of TeachText are everywhere...'
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