Show Posts
1
Newbie Help (Start Here) / A few comments
« on: February 18, 2006, 06:25:30 am »
1) Yes, I\'m sure that Atomic Blue/\"the devs\" have had lawyers examine their licensing agreements. However, copyright law is in a state of flux right now, and international copyright is particularly dicey, and electronic copyright law more so, etc. If the license is ever actually tested in court, something none of us wants to see will have already happened in this project. The GPL is still being tested in courts as well, remember. Projects like this are breaking new ground in both their open and closed elements. There is no definitive truth about whether something is \"legal\" or \"illegal\" until it or something very like it has been tested in the courts, and I think we are are proud to say that PS is new and unique!
2) I would prefer that the art was freely distributable as well. But I honestly think that the policy was designed in good faith and that the license will be re-examined if it proves to be a problem. Keep in mind that open source developers and rendering artists, while sometimes the same people, are more often than not different individuals and different creative cultures. OSS devs generally want their work out there as much as possible, while artists can be sensitive about how their work is used- and with good reason. I think that many artist feel that the license is necessary to protect their craft, and we wouldn\'t want to lose those people. If they would rather trust Talad than trust the entire world, I think that\'s reasonable and we should respect it.
3) This game will never go commercial. It would lose a substantial part of its fan base and a huge chunk of its devs. The cost of restructuring the project would compromise all the advantages of an initial open source dev phase. Of course we are extending some trust. But contributors know what they are getting into and the rest of us aren\'t risking anything.
4) I\'m glad servers are kept on a short leash. Poorly maintained or inconsistently updated servers could damage the reputation of the game. I\'m sure Talad would be interested in adding another server maintained by someone qualified and integrated with the project. OSS projects must be very strict about performance if we want to be taken seriously in the software community.
I\'m sorry if this post is a bit lengthy, but the issues in this thread are often on my mind. Happy gaming, everyone!
2) I would prefer that the art was freely distributable as well. But I honestly think that the policy was designed in good faith and that the license will be re-examined if it proves to be a problem. Keep in mind that open source developers and rendering artists, while sometimes the same people, are more often than not different individuals and different creative cultures. OSS devs generally want their work out there as much as possible, while artists can be sensitive about how their work is used- and with good reason. I think that many artist feel that the license is necessary to protect their craft, and we wouldn\'t want to lose those people. If they would rather trust Talad than trust the entire world, I think that\'s reasonable and we should respect it.
3) This game will never go commercial. It would lose a substantial part of its fan base and a huge chunk of its devs. The cost of restructuring the project would compromise all the advantages of an initial open source dev phase. Of course we are extending some trust. But contributors know what they are getting into and the rest of us aren\'t risking anything.
4) I\'m glad servers are kept on a short leash. Poorly maintained or inconsistently updated servers could damage the reputation of the game. I\'m sure Talad would be interested in adding another server maintained by someone qualified and integrated with the project. OSS projects must be very strict about performance if we want to be taken seriously in the software community.
I\'m sorry if this post is a bit lengthy, but the issues in this thread are often on my mind. Happy gaming, everyone!