<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd) --> <!--X-From-R13: X Q Znjerapr <pynjNpc.arg> --> <!--X-Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 17:22:21 -0800 --> <!--X-Message-Id: E120E0I-0007l7-00#under,eng.cp.net --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:claw#cp,net"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00693.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00695.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00701.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00697.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00694">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00694">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00694">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: J C Lawrence <<A HREF="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 17:22:17 -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> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> ------- Forwarded Message From: dennis towne <soda#xirr,com> Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin Subject: Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 18:27:25 +0000 I have been thinking about liscense issues for a while now, and after looking at the GPL I'm not sure it is the right liscense to use for mud server code. The GPL works for linux and apache by guaranteeing that anyone who sells thier version of the code has to provide the source along with any changes they make. Since binaries are the most widely used/distributed form, anyone intending to sell anything would likely be selling the binaries. The GPL guarantees that the source is available along with the binaries. The issue I see is that mud servers are not like this - binaries for the server are not distributed or sold, so there is no need to release any changes you might make to the server. Any additions to the server source that are made may be kept private, and withheld from the development community. As such, the GPL would not work well on mud servers. So what is distributed? The game itself, which people connect to. I believe this should be the condition for releasing source, not the distribution of binaries. (Yes, it's probably on questionable legal grounds. No, for the sake of this discussion, I do not care.) I'd like to forward the idea of a liscense where making the mud publicly available for play requires the source code for the mud to be available. Presumably a well designed code base would allow the bulk of the game to reside in data files not covered by the liscense, which would prevent people from copying and stealing entirely someone else's game. It might also be appropriate to require changes to be released within a certain time frame, so that creators of changes could reap the rewards of thier development efforts for a while. I see six months as a reasonable time frame to bask in the glory of some new feature before releasing the source code. A reasonable delay would also help mitigate the constant effort of keeping cur-level source available, as muds typically use a very incremental approach. This seems to me like an appropriate way to release source. It allows people to collect money for the game, even make it pay-for-play if they desire - but it forces anyone who does so to give thier changes back to the community. Any comments on this, other than most admins out there would hate it? If a server were released under these conditions, do you think it would be successful? - -dennis towne =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Alter Aeon Multiclass MUD - Beware the Hill Giants! <A HREF="http://www.dentinmud.org/alter">http://www.dentinmud.org/alter</A> <A HREF="telnet://dentinmud.org:3000">telnet://dentinmud.org:3000</A> ------- End of Forwarded Message -- 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 <A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev</A> </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <ul compact><li><strong>Follow-Ups</strong>: <ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00698" HREF="msg00698.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Ben Greear <greearb#candelatech,com></li></ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00697" HREF="msg00697.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> J C Lawrence <claw#cp,net></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00693.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Telnet Protocol and Winsocks</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00695.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD source licensing: beyond GPL? (fwd)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00701.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: MUD source licensing: beyond GPL? (fwd)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00697.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00694"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00694"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00696" HREF="msg00696.html">[MUD-Dev] Classes and Races and more (a BIG list) (fwd)</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 01:24 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00695" HREF="msg00695.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD source licensing: beyond GPL? (fwd)</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 01:23 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00701" HREF="msg00701.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: MUD source licensing: beyond GPL? (fwd)</A></strong>, Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:diablo#best,com">diablo#best,com</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 06:05 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00694" HREF="msg00694.html">[MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 01:22 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00697" HREF="msg00697.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 02:31 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00702" HREF="msg00702.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL...(fwd)</A></strong>, Rahul Sinha <a href="mailto:rsinha#glue,umd.edu">rsinha#glue,umd.edu</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 06:05 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00698" HREF="msg00698.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</A></strong>, Ben Greear <a href="mailto:greearb#candelatech,com">greearb#candelatech,com</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 02:32 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00700" HREF="msg00700.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Proper liscense for MUD source? Perhaps not GPL... (fwd)</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 02:46 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>