Updated GPL release readme

Discuss the future of Warzone 2100 with us.
jaywalker_eidos
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by jaywalker_eidos »

EvilGuru wrote:Lets go get wasted!

Oh.. wait I have a maths exam tomorrow (A2), maybe not.

Regards, Freddie.
Shame i gave up drinking a few years back :)

Hmm just thought theres quite a few websites that need updating now aint there, wikis and faqs ;)
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lav_coyote25
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by lav_coyote25 »

EvilGuru wrote:Lets go get wasted!

Oh.. wait I have a maths exam tomorrow (A2), maybe not.

Regards, Freddie.

:stare: now freddie... lets just get the schooling over and done with - and THEN go and get "wasted" O_O ... and have at " least " 2 english pints for me. xD
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by Kamaze »

Please don't remind me about exams :gonk:
jaywalker_eidos wrote:Hmm just thought theres quite a few websites that need updating now aint there, wikis and faqs ;)
I'll investigate tonight :)
We all have the same heaven, but not the same horizon.
EvilGuru
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by EvilGuru »

lav_coyote25 wrote:
EvilGuru wrote:Lets go get wasted!

Oh.. wait I have a maths exam tomorrow (A2), maybe not.

Regards, Freddie.

:stare: now freddie... lets just get the schooling over and done with - and THEN go and get "wasted" O_O ... and have at " least " 2 english pints for me. xD
After tomorrow I have to more exams left, the last of which being on Thursday (19th). I shall wait :)

Regards, Freddie.
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skellr
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by skellr »

xD I must still be dreaming. Great news!
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by Giel »

EvilGuru wrote:Lets go get wasted!

Oh.. wait I have a maths exam tomorrow (A2), maybe not.

Regards, Freddie.
Same, here, except that I don't drink alocoholic beverages at all. Not to mention I have more than just a single exam (have two others plus I need to finish four projects...., within two weeks, arg...).

Either way, ..., I'll just stick with this dumb smile on my face, which I seem to be unable to get off. ;)

Edit: Lets celebrate with an Ogg/Theora conversion of the intro movie, thank Buginator for the (manual!) conversion job: http://warzone.mortis.eu/fmv/devastation.ogg
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Buginator
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by Buginator »

jaywalker_eidos wrote: 3. Following exception to the GPL is granted:

Linking Warzone 2100 statically or dynamically with other modules is making a combined work based on Warzone 2100. Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole combination.

In addition, as a special exception, the copyright holders of Warzone 2100 give you permission to combine Warzone 2100 with code included in the standard release of libraries that are accessible, redistributable and linkable free of charge. You may copy and distribute such a system following the terms of the GNU GPL for Warzone 2100 and the licenses of the other code concerned.

Note that people who make modified versions of Warzone 2100 are not obligated to grant this special exception for their modified versions; it is their choice whether to do so. The GNU General Public License gives permission to release a modified version without this exception; this exception also makes it possible to release a modified version which carries forward this exception.
This is *very* bad news, I don't know why everyone is happy about this.

This pretty much means that if you separate out the code to a library, then you don't have to share the source code to that library.

Which means, if I was to say separate the sound, graphics, AI, and whatever else, and make it so only a .dll or library is made of those that 'hooks' into the original code, that all that work was done on the new additions basically becomes my property.

Which means that nobody can ever fix/change/modify it, except the original author.
Which then means that the whole idea of wanting warzone to survive is out the door, and they get all the original benefits of warzone being open source, but now, they get to close source whatever parts they want.

Folks, this exception is *very* bad news, and I am not sure how it got put in.


For what it is worth, I know / have been working on /with this project for awhile now. (Basically since the project is 100% open source)
I also know / have talked to other warzone projects. (Which I have NOT joined, since that project is NOT open to the public as of the time I write this.)

What I say comes from the simple fact that it goes against the grain of the project being GPL in the first place.
There should have been a bit more communications open to the public about these changes, and a period to 'object' about the said changes.

It just deeply saddens me to see this exception added, it is just a way for greedy developers to gain access to all the hard work of the original source code, use it to their advantage then turn their noses to the community without also releasing the code changes that they have made.
Warzone will just become a shell, and it would be impossible for you to continue to develop it.
Who would want to continue development from a empty shell ? Nobody would, and they would have to start from scratch again.

That isn't good for the community at all.
It is a big win for them, and a big loss for the rest of us.

I am at a loss how this could have been agreed upon so quickly, without time for others to look at the proposed changes.


--Buginator : freelancer at large.
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by cybersphinx »

Buginator wrote:For what it is worth, I know / have been working on /with this project for awhile now. (Basically since the project is 100% open source)
And it will stay 100% open source (unless someone can convince every contributor to agree to GPL+exception). The exception only affects those starting from the original source (which arguably was already released with an implicit GPL exception to link with the included DLLs).
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Rman Virgil
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by Rman Virgil »

-------------------->

* The future of Warzone for those who play the game, the fans, is VERY, VERY, bright indeed. :D

* While the GFX quality will never be on the par with Crytek's latest engine... it will be a whole lot closer than it is today..... plus ALL the art will be redone to reflect that muscle under the hood. Warzone will have Newtonian Physics and Voice Recognition Command.... and lord knows what other marvelous goodies fans, gamers, people who play for love of the game, dream of, long for. :)

* WZ will benefit from the best of all worlds and so will gamers. As we all move forward, a dare say, any cries of "wolf" or "the sky is falling" will be thoroughly dispelled as was the veracity of Orson Well's radio broadcast of HG Wells "War of the Worlds".

* Up until yesterday I had had 2 beers in the last 3 months. Last night I celebrated this promising future with triple Cape Cods. Not even a hint of a hang-over this morning. :) If your gonna go Vodka always go Top-Drawer, any half-stepping and you really pay the piper. Anyway, I'm back to the occasional Mimosa, usually with a weekend brunch. ;)

- Cheers, Rman. :D
jaywalker_eidos
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by jaywalker_eidos »

Hm i can see why theres a bit of confusion here, since the license states all combined work (when linking WZ statically or dynamically with other modules) is covered under the GPL but that a special exception allows the inclusion of other libraries. However it does state that these libraries must be `accessible, freely available and redistributable` however no library written by someone specifically for Wazone is in theory `freely available, accessible or redistributable` unless they release it.

I may be missing the point here so please help me understand if i am, the last thing we want is to kill off development of this fantastic game.
Last edited by jaywalker_eidos on 13 Jun 2008, 10:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Rman Virgil
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by Rman Virgil »


I may be missing the point here so please help me understand if i am, the last thing we want is to kill off development of this fantastic game.
* That absolutely will not happen, Jay. :)

* Indeed I'll put a thousand bucks on the line right now that says such an outcome
is pure poppycock.

* Anybody wanna take me up on it ? :D

- Regards, Rman.
jaywalker_eidos
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by jaywalker_eidos »

I really hope thats the case.
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Rman Virgil
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by Rman Virgil »

I really hope thats the case.
* It's a fact, Jay. :)

* If anything, the effect is the opposite - development will be explosive.

* In other words there will be no monolithic controlling monopoly... instead there will be freedom of choice. Right now there are at least 3 re-developed WZs - all, in different ways, superior to the original. How does that translate into the "end" of WZ development ? Clearly it doesn't.

* Freedom of choice. Live and let live. After 10 years active involvement to keep it alive, rest assured I would never be part of anything that would squelch the games future.

* There will always be dissenting positions no matter what. Heck could there have been anybody more non-violent than Gandhi and yet there were some that felt compelled to kill him. Go figure. All kinds make up the world we live in. We do our best to make positive contributions, take responsibility for errors made along the way, rectify them, move-on and let the chips fall where they will.

- Cheers, Rman :)
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by cybersphinx »

Well, someone could write some exciting new code, put it into a DLL (free to distribute but without source), and use it with Warzone. So all the old Warzone code stays open, but the new code is closed. But everything using the internal data structures of Warzone is a derived work, and thus also has to be GPL. So the exception really only applies to general use libraries, not to code written specifically for Warzone.
jaywalker_eidos
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Re: Updated GPL release readme

Post by jaywalker_eidos »

cybersphinx wrote:Well, someone could write some exciting new code, put it into a DLL (free to distribute but without source), and use it with Warzone. So all the old Warzone code stays open, but the new code is closed. But everything using the internal data structures of Warzone is a derived work, and thus also has to be GPL. So the exception really only applies to general use libraries, not to code written specifically for Warzone.
So its not quite so bad then?
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