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<H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry </LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: J C Lawrence <<A HREF="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 14:53:24 -0800</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Sender</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu">mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
On Tue, 16 Nov 1999 21:39:33 -0700
Ben Greear <greear#cyberhighway,net> wrote:
> My personal opinion (and I have been living in a cave of my own
> construction for several years) is that text based MUDS are in a
> decline, and have been for years, even as the rest of the NET has
> expanded. Although I do not know the answer, I wonder if the huge
> number of forks in the MUD tree is part of this decline.
Certainly the rate of forks which have significant user bases seems
to have declined mightily in the last 5 years. Instead we know of a
comparitively large number of new code bases, none of which has a
significant user base that I know of. In looking at product life
cycles this either indicates that MUD servers are about to become an
assumable commodity, or that we are at the precipice of a major
paradigm shift for MUD servers.
I know which of the two I prefer. Unfortunately I suspect the other
is more likely although ew're long overdue for a massive paradigm
shift.
> Because advances are not shared back into the community, I believe
> much effort is wasted on the mundane, where as a GPL type license
> seems to keep branching to a minimum and maximize the collective
> efforts of many.
Otherwise known as the "norming" force created by the fact that
maintaining a fork's currency against a moving main target becomes
increasingly, and eventually critically difficult the larger the
project and the more rapid its development.
> However, from personal experience, the GPL is not a magic bullet.
Yup. Community involvement requires their being a participatory
community in the first place. Throwing your doors open and posting
a sign, "Come work here! Free!" isn't usually the sign of a party.
You have to have an itch _and_ a community.
> I have released Scry and it's client under the GPL for over a year
> now, and though there have been many downloads, and I know ppl are
> running the server, at least on their own machine to see how it
> works, I have had little in the way of patches offered from the
> field. On the other hand, many people do comment that they really
> do like that it's under the GPL, and several coders have joined my
> own server project and have contributed some useful code.
The fact that you have others joining the project however is
encouraging.
> It was also interesting to see how the MUD-DEV project burned so
> bright, but flamed out so quickly.
Ahem. DevMUD. MUD-Dev is this list.
> Too many indians, not enough chiefs, no benevolent dictator, and I
> think the fact that so few of us really want to work for others
> when we could implement our own thing killed it. We as a
> mud-developer community just seem too set in our ways, busy, or
> otherwise introverted to be able to collaborate on a meaningfull
> project.
The Trove project is another good comparable. There the lack is
fairly clear: Nobody is leading the fray by actually going out
there, putting their neck on the line, and writing code, more code,
and lots of code, and thereby establishing a fact and history of
forward motion for the project.
You can't gain any momentum if nobody actualy does anything for any
length of time.
--
J C Lawrence Internet: claw#kanga,nu
----------(*) Internet: coder#kanga,nu
...Honorary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev maillist - MUD-Dev#kanga,nu
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<li><strong><A NAME="00389" HREF="msg00389.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Mik Clarke <mikclrk#attglobal,net></li></ul>
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<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00280" HREF="msg00280.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Travis S. Casey" <efindel#io,com></LI></UL></LI>
<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00283" HREF="msg00283.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Ben Greear <greear#cyberhighway,net></LI></UL></LI>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<ul compact>
<ul compact>
<ul compact>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00319" HREF="msg00319.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
Matthew D. Fuller <a href="mailto:fullermd#futuresouth,com">fullermd#futuresouth,com</a>, Wed 17 Nov 1999, 23:32 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00327" HREF="msg00327.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:diablo#best,com">diablo#best,com</a>, Thu 18 Nov 1999, 00:37 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00349" HREF="msg00349.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
Ben Greear <a href="mailto:greear#cyberhighway,net">greear#cyberhighway,net</a>, Thu 18 Nov 1999, 07:34 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00368" HREF="msg00368.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
Greg Miller <a href="mailto:gmiller#classic-games,com">gmiller#classic-games,com</a>, Thu 18 Nov 1999, 18:02 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00385" HREF="msg00385.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</a>, Thu 18 Nov 1999, 22:53 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00389" HREF="msg00389.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
Mik Clarke <a href="mailto:mikclrk#attglobal,net">mikclrk#attglobal,net</a>, Fri 19 Nov 1999, 00:47 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</ul>
</ul>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00276" HREF="msg00276.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Wed 17 Nov 1999, 02:18 GMT
</LI>
</ul>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00279" HREF="msg00279.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
Robert Green <a href="mailto:mooncrow#lava,net">mooncrow#lava,net</a>, Wed 17 Nov 1999, 02:18 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00295" HREF="msg00295.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] code base inquiry</A></strong>,
Travis S. Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#io,com">efindel#io,com</a>, Wed 17 Nov 1999, 17:17 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
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