1 (edited by qubodup 2008-01-27 00:45:42)

Topic: Teewars license

Hi people, devs,

Please take a look at http://libregamewiki.org/

There is not a single game listed in that wiki, which does not permit changing of the code. Nexuiz, Tremulous, FreeCiv, Widelands, Wesnoth, Thunder and Lightning allow changing their code and art and using it under GPL (Trem's art is CC-BY-SA).

Quake 1, 2, 3 allow changing of the code. Wonderful things were created with changed Quake source. For example Warsow, Nexuiz, Tremulous, UFO:AI.

Your reason is "we don't want forks"

Why don't you want forks? look at this shiny pixmap:
http://nothingdoesntsuck.googlepages.com/graph.png

Am I wrong? Do you have a different reason besides the fear of forks?

Tell me if I offend you, I'll ask buddies from forum.freegamedev.net to give you a visit, I think some guys there are more successful in explaining the positive things about full open sourcieness than I am.

2

Re: Teewars license

The license was chosen in a hurry and was very restrictive because we/I didn't have time to look through all options. We have a new license for 0.4.0 that is much much more liberal (think zlib/libpng). The reason why we don't want forks is because there should only need to be one version of teewars, and thats the good version.

3

Re: Teewars license

matricks wrote:

The reason why we don't want forks is because there should only need to be one version of teewars, and thats the good version.

QFT

4 (edited by qubodup 2008-01-27 02:05:50)

Re: Teewars license

>>think zlib/libpng

Does this mean that you will allow derivation? ("Will it be GPL-compatible?" is the main question here =) )


>>The reason why we don't want forks is because there should only need to be one version of teewars, and thats the good version.

I think in nearly all cases people would contribute to you rather than forking.

I think the contributions/-ors in the open-source world depend on the permission to change the code though. Because contributors can't be sure that you won't decide one day "everything in Teewars shall be pink."

Forking only takes place when original projects die afaik. (eg. SuperTuxKart)

PS: I understand your wish to create the best Teewars but I don't understand why your method seems to be forbidding modification. =(

5

Re: Teewars license

I fully support this one. And in addition to the pixmap, the restrictive license option of the cool fork can't happen if you use GPL.
And good job with adding this game to happypenguin.org, that's how I found about teewars - and I think there was a guy who wrote in comments:

I was about to give Free contributions to this game (new sound effects to replace the non-Free audio in there) and give this a 5...

and then I read license.txt.

So, as you can see, for some people (especially Linux users, which tend to be more conscious of licenses & stuff) license really matters.

Take a look at my posts with ideas:
Hammer+charge * Headshots smile * Yet Another Energy Gun * Map scrolling

6 (edited by astsmtl 2008-01-27 14:55:50)

Re: Teewars license

I wanted to start such topic since I first saw teewars and it's license.txt, a few weeks ago. I was not sure on how to convince developers, that making teewars free as in freedom is not bad at all, and finally you, qubodup, jumped ahead of me. Now I can say I fully agree with you on this matter. :)

matricks wrote:

The reason why we don't want forks is because there should only need to be one version of teewars, and thats the good version.

There will be only one version of teewars even if you adapt free software license and someone forks this project, because forks cannot use original projects name. :P

matricks wrote:

think zlib/libpng

This license is compatible with GPL, it should be ok.

IMHO developers made a great game (thanks!) and this project is quite perspective and healthy. There should be no reasons for someone to fork.

7

Re: Teewars license

matricks wrote:

The reason why we don't want forks is because there should only need to be one version of teewars, and thats the good version.

Forks only usually happen on dead/inactive projects or where developers come to a complete impasse.  You have to scrape the barrel for examples where people just fork for fun.

Look at Egoboo, whose development massively stalled but the GPL kept the project alive and it eventually found it's way back to the original project site after 4 years in the wilderness where somebody else kept working on it.

FreeLords got forked because the developers decided to start from scratch in another programming language, so somebody took the old version and continued it as LordsAWar.  Now there's 2 different games.

What I'm getting at is that forking usually only happens for a good reason.  To literally expect forks is being extremely paranoid.

8

Re: Teewars license

I cannot agree with You in 100%. You are talking mainly about crap(like SuperTuxKart which is unplayable, much more worser than original), or PPRacer(maps made by kid or /dev/urandom, not like old TuxRacer one), look i.e. on Joomla(fork of commercial Mambo). I know that is a bit different/complicated story(fork was made by coworkers, that wanted to develop in the clear way.. There was also many GPL soft(mainly linux/busybox/mplayer illegal forks), by many leading companies like Cisco, Kiss, Ericson....but they were illegal. Now with GPL is problem with server side software(you must distribute source only while you are distributing binaries), so theres AGPL.
I really like quake2 forks like Warsow or Nexuiz(theres some Quake3 like Tremoulous), but they are much to different(maybe better words is "based on code") form originals, so they cannot compete.
Im really happy that game is using Free/portable libraries, and give source so we can run it on any arch/OS (remember Stallman and new closed HP problem, theres no problem with that license). Bigger companies probably will not use GPLed source(because they will be not able to close it), but im use that there will be(if game will get more popular) many shiity "mods" like NeochildWars_blinkig&shiny_ALL, or Teewars_AutoAim_MegaWarezHack_by_5UCK3R, but providing any source probably will cause it(they feel 1337 h4x0rz, because they can show friends sth popular with their nicks). But not providing source will be like move excluding users of exotic Operating Systems, and procesor architectures, like latest Soldat with PB not working in WINE.
Im a Linux/FreeSoftware Extremist(using gnash instead flash tongue, but I know that you written this game from scratch(including artwork), and game for me is definetly perfect(gfx/music[maybe sometimes annoying]/gameplay), and Open Source(resctrictive licesne, but avaible), and I really dont work to anybody get profits form Yours hard work, and trying to destroy Yours project to make moneys, or some idiots chalanging in mods and stupidity, so definitely BSD or ZLIB like license is BAD, because they ALLOWS TO CLOSE SOURCE of forks. BSD is Public Domain like, ZLIB force only to return diffs to modified code(only your code, not their around yours which will be secret). LGPL allow for dynamically linking with closed source, so best for You probably will be GPL for game and AGPL(for server, will not allow to close network protocol) mix. Delaying in time relicensing Artwork can be good idea, until game(and their name) will gain strong popularity(or project will fall), so anybody will recognize any fork as Your game. I also think that any fork w/o Yours artwork will be useless, because there many similar game, but any has so HQ artwork/animations(i love chain reactions, and moving). ID software also provided only source for Quake engines under GPL, Eternal Lands too. And deciding voice gaved Stallman saying that Art not must be free wink  Its Your decision, I wanted only to share my Linux/OSS experience, and Im not against Public Domaining it. (now please give me armor to protect from FreeSoftware Zealots wink

//SuperTux is best Mario/JazzJack Rabbit(story based single player) replacement, now we has also network mode JJRabbit replacemat, which was playable trouch WINE, but 640x480 was frustrating. I saw some "Race" maps, why theres not downloading maps from server option ?

9 (edited by raph 2008-02-16 09:55:12)

Re: Teewars license

qudobup wrote:

Wonderful things were created with changed Quake source. For example Warsow, Nexuiz, Tremulous, UFO:AI.

fyi, Warsow wasnt a Quake 3 mod. It was built straight from QFusion, an external engine based loosely on Quake 2, before source for Quake 3 was released publicly.

10

Re: Teewars license

I have written it already tongue

11

Re: Teewars license

raph wrote:
qudobup wrote:

Wonderful things were created with changed Quake source. For example Warsow, Nexuiz, Tremulous, UFO:AI.

fyi, Warsow wasnt a Quake 3 mod. It was built straight from QFusion, an external engine based loosely on Quake 2, before source for Quake 3 was released publicly.

qudobup wrote that Warsow was "Q3 mod"? Where? O_o

BTW, I think this is nice post about "GPL vs BSD".

12 (edited by qubodup 2008-02-17 21:33:06)

Re: Teewars license

evil_core, it's rather hard to read your post, please use quotes - I must assume that you were answering to freegamer. I also recommend more paragraphs, as the text seems to have context/sense-changes inside of one line.

evil_core wrote:

look i.e. on Joomla(fork of commercial Mambo). I know that is a bit different/complicated story(fork was made by coworkers, that wanted to develop in the clear way..

What are you talking about? You have to either explain it in detail or to provide sources.

evil_core wrote:

There was also many GPL soft(mainly linux/busybox/mplayer illegal forks), by many leading companies like Cisco, Kiss, Ericson....but they were illegal.

Sources plz?

evil_core wrote:

I really like quake2 forks like Warsow or Nexuiz(theres some Quake3 like Tremoulous), but they are much to different(maybe better words is "based on code") form originals, so they cannot compete.

Different from what? From Teewars? You know, these games are not using the quake engines, they use engines, which are based on the quake engines. Darkplaces and QFusion are actually the "proof" that changing source and forking is a good thing.

evil_core wrote:

but im use that there will be(if game will get more popular) many shiity "mods" like NeochildWars_blinkig&shiny_ALL, or Teewars_AutoAim_MegaWarezHack_by_5UCK3R, but providing any source probably will cause it(they feel 1337 h4x0rz, because they can show friends sth popular with their nicks).

<troll>Maybe it would be worth it. Not providing source just to prevent script kiddies to do shitty mods </troll>

evil_core wrote:

and I really dont work to anybody get profits form Yours hard work, and trying to destroy Yours project to make moneys, or some idiots chalanging in mods and stupidity

Why don't you want anybody to get profits from their hard work? How could making monies destroy the Teewars project? Why does it at all matter weather some idiot changes the source and releases it? Nobody will care if it sucks.

evil_core wrote:

Delaying in time relicensing Artwork can be good idea

Please explain/re-formulate this sentence. I don't understand it.

evil_core wrote:

ID software also provided only source for Quake engines under GPL, Eternal Lands too. And deciding voice gaved Stallman saying that Art not must be free

I dislike non-free art licenses. I hope teewars' team will license game source and data under a gpl-compatible license.

evil_core wrote:

//SuperTux is best Mario/JazzJack Rabbit(story based single player) replacement, now we has also network mode JJRabbit replacemat, which was playable trouch WINE, but 640x480 was frustrating. I saw some "Race" maps, why theres not downloading maps from server option ?

Please ask/tell the devs of the projects, nobody will profit from you keeping your complaints to yourself or from you writing them in places, where the devs of the projects won't find them.

@DEVS:
1. The year is 2008 now wink
2. DELETED Sorry, I didn't see the 0.4.0 in the post at the top. I wish you would do it faster though

13

Re: Teewars license

1. I think everyone is pretty acknowledged about that, thanks.
2. Because 0.3.4 was just a quick fix to make the master server thingey work as it should, as earlier said 0.4 will have a different license and if you cant wait until then I think you should get some damn patience.

just my two öre^^

Official Teeworlds map developer and community moderator
Administrator for the Teeworlds community Teesites

14

Re: Teewars license

Chi11y,

1. I just saw the 2007 in the readme and license text files.
2. I have been playing games a long time now. I know what an 'expected release date' is smile