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Tux Racer 1.0 To Be Closed Source, Windows Only
rubberpaw (J. Nathan Matias) writes: "Sunspire Studios is going to release Tux Racer 1.0 as a closed source, commercial product. Tux Racer is the Free Software community's premier 3d game, and I only found out about the future closed-source release in emails from Sunspire. They are following the procedures of relicensing allowed from the GPL, so everything is legal. In response to this, I have started a project called Open Racer whose purpose is to continue development of the GPL Tux Racer. Sunspire is ok (and, I believe, happy) with everything so long as the project doesn't go into direct competition with Tux Racer 1.0. It's my goal to develop the project in a different direction in accordance with Sunspire's wishes, but I'm still looking for ideas at this point." See this Newsforge story for more details.Update: 08/02 09:55 PM by T : According to the Sunspire site, the eventual retail version of Tux Racer will have binary versions for Windows and Linux, "(and most likely the Macintosh)." The OEM version in the works, however, is presently Windows-only.
Matias writes: "Sunspire is ok (and, I believe, happy) with everything so long as the project doesn't go into direct competition with Tux Racer 1.0. It's my goal to develop the project in a different direction in accordance with Sunspire's wishes, but I'm still looking for ideas at this point."
Also, he's looking for a new maintainer -- if this project grabs your attention, pop him an email.
well I dunno what's changed from then, but I have 0.61 (from the Red Hat Powertools) and it kicks arse.
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Get over it. The penguin is a totally open mascot of the Linux operating system, free for use or modification by anyone who so desires, provided they give credit to Larry Ewing, its creator.
For example, I recently saw two stuffed Linux penguins on a desk in the movie The Score. If you're offended about a mere racing game using the mascot, (A game that will probably never earn more than a few thousand for the developers) you must be positively beside yourself with rage over the nerve that a movie studio (Associated with the MPAA) has to use our mascot in one of its productions.
Restating: Get over it.
"XXXX To be Windows-Only" means "we read like the first couple lines of the article and assumed it was Windows-only, or we didn't read it at all and trusted the summary from the submitter."
On a related note, "XXXX using GPLed code in closed-source application" means "we looked at the first couple paragraphs of the website, didn't see a source RPM, and decided there was no source code."
Also, "Amiga OS 4.0 released," "Apple regains marketshare," or "story that was posted yesterday reposted today" usually means "Rob Malda smokes crack".
- A.P.
--
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
By the same token, there is no reason there shouldn't be an open version based on the last GPLed release, and no reason why that shouldn't compete directly with the closed version. Deciding to go proprietary does not give you moral rights or entitle you to any sort of market. If they can sell it, fine: if not, why try and protect them in any way?
The 0.6.1 version is still available with source from tuxracer.sourceforge.net, what more do you want?
Patry has done the work, and he has shared a great deal of the code. Who are we to complain? Now if Sunspire is using code from other contributors without getting their approval, well, that's a bad thing. I don't care what their intentions are, if they are using someone else's GPLed code illegally, then they need to be stopped.
If the end users and enthusiasts still have the source code that they have been playing with, and apparently there are even other developers interested in the source code (according to the Debian changelog anyway). The GPL doesn't say anything about your future intentions, it simply guarantees that people who use your code have access to the corresponding version of the source code.
...and this just had to happen when the USA banned human cloning. =( Well, I guess the OpenLinus project just needs to move somewhere else.
=)
(From tuxracer.com site)
This is what happened with games like Doom, Quake and Abuse, and I don't think that has hurt the popularity or sales of any of the games in question...
I think this is one of the sanest Linux game sales models, and it would work in Windows side just as well. The game companies could release the source to the games some time (year? two?) later, and say "the source is open, just don't distribute the data (oh, by the way, buy the game now, it's in the budget release shelf, really cheap now)".
Ever heard of Cygwin or MINGW?
That's the stuff that lets any of those "50 programming langs on Linux" run under Windows and produce Windows code- even GUI stuff, if you use Fltk, GTK+, or Qt.
Next time, try doing a little research BEFORE posting.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
"Sunspire is ok (and, I believe, happy) with everything so long as the project doesn't go into direct competition with Tux Racer 1.0."
Other than being nice, does it matter if they are happy, or if in fact the free version competes with the commercial version?
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Think about it...work on your product, release it under the GPL, get suggestions, feedback from your target clients, bug testing galore all for free, maybe even some documentation. (Not likely much code since that would make closing it difficult)
Take all of that benefit that you got from having the community show you good will because you're releasing GPL'd software, close the software, stick in a few things people can't get with the last version that was GPL'd, and release the software closed and make money off of it.
Of course it's legal. But I don't know about ethical. Well at least they got a hell of a QA department for free.
-- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
If you read the second comment on the newforge site, the author of tux racer (i think that is who) posted that they fully intend to supply a linux version. They are claiming that their OEM is Windows Only. I don't know if that is a tatic to keep us from getting angry or if he really means it. Sounds like whoever wrote the story slanted it and forgot to mention Sunspire's Linux intentions.
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Linux Racer ?
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
in fact they will be in the same box.
Presumed translation: "Tux Racer, The Windows Version and Tux Racer, The Linux Version will be in the same cardboard container."
Getting a Linux version added onto the CD is something that we have considered and will try to do.
Presumed translation: "Tux Racer, The Windows Version and Tux Racer, The Linux Version *might* be in the same cardboard container." ..unless the linux version was going onto floppies..
The only obstacle to this is the fact that our OEM agent only supports Windows products.
Presumed translation: "Tux Racer, The Windows Version and Tux Racer, The Linux Version will *not* be in the same cardboard container." :-) .. getting this past your distributor will be tough then; epic couldn't swing it with Unreal. OTOH you obviously know a lot more about your situation than me.
Good luck. If you package it with a linux version and it's not a complete stinker I'll buy it. I certainly enjoyed .61. Thanks for the fun game.
If TuxRacer is currently GPL'ed you realy don't have to take shit from anybody.
You can do what you want, compete with the pope if you want.
--
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb15CB32EF3AF9C0E5D727
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
>I find it very insulting that they are using the
>Linux mascot.
Is there no coypright issue here?
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Now, WTF does the "OEM Agent" care what's on the damn CD? You guys do all the software, right?
--Bob
1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
Kinda ironic that a game about the Linux "mascot" doesn't even run on Linux...
prosebeforehos.com
If it's GPL'd, you can do what you want whether or not the original author approves. You may not be able to use the name "Tux Racer" if it's trademarked, but the whole point of the GPL is that you can fork the code in situations like this without giving a care what the original author wants. People complain about the forking when it's just a result of an easily-bruised ego, but in this case I think the GPL has allowed things to work out just as they should.
On another note, why does tuxracer.com still say that it's hosted at SourceForge? Shouldn't a commercial game company pay for their own hosting, and leave the free hosting for people who are cranking out free software without expectation of reimbursement?
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
The OEM is usually the publisher and they usually have a distribution strategy independent to the software developers. It is rare for the software house to handle the publishing as they are usually too small and don't have the market presence needed to get into the shops. Take as an example Myst 3 - Exile, was developed by Presto Studios, but published by Ubi Soft. If Presto wanted to relase to Linux, but Ubi Soft didn't believe that it was a viable market, then Presto would be forced to find another publisher for that platform.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
From the Open Racer site:
// EvilJohn
// Java Geek
"Unfortunately, SunSpire Studios, for whom Jasmin now works, has decided to make a commercial version based on the Tux Racer 0.6.1 version of Tux Racer. This is perfectly legal and acceptable according to the terms of the GPL, since Jasmin is the original licenser and has the authority to relicense his program."
Can someone more familar with the GPL than myself explain how this works? The source released under the GPL is still GPL'd, but his private fork can be closed source (because he is the original licenser)?
Less Talk, More Beer.
-
Arbitrary joystick axes can be mapped to Tux controls (thanks to Julie Brandon for suggestion and patch).
- Fixed some 32-bit-isms to allow compiling on 64-bit machines (like Alphas); thanks to Jay Estabrook for the patch.
-
Darrell Walisser has ported Tux Racer to the Mac! We've placed a link in the Downloads section. Thanks Darrell!
- I believe that this makes Tux Racer the first open-source game to feature adaptive LOD terrain. Many thanks to Thatcher Ulrich, whose code was used (see Thatcher's excellent Gamasutra article for a description of the algorithm and a link to the demo code).
- Matt Majka has ported Tux Racer 0.61 to Mac OS X.
I also found this news item interesting..If you read the article, they plan to eventually release the 1.0 code under the GPL.
This, of course, is yet to be seen, but if they follow through, it appears that they are just trying a very similar open source business model to the one Aladdin has used with Ghostscript, yet with Ghostscript there doesn't seem to be a huge groundswell of negative reaction.
Aladdin keeps the current version of ghostscript under a restrictive license (albeit still open source), and relicences under the GPL when it is a version or two old. This way, they can make money from the current version but let old versions be used for the "public good". I personally wish more software vendors would do this with their older code.
Granted, there are differences, such as closing the source and holding off on releasing the Linux version until an OEM partner is found, but at least give them a chance to follow through on their asperations of OEM deals and see how well they deliver on the open source follow-ups before slamming them into the wall.
I don't know the full history of tuxracer, but this is apparently a big surprise for most users. If this has been their plan all along, then they should have been up front about it.
It won't be the first time in history that software has been developed with free betas, but it has also been GPL up to this point. I think this, combined with the apparent fact that their plans were not widely known, is what is making people upset, particularly since Tuxracer has been sort of a "flagship" Linux game, being shipped with most distros.
Having said that, they do say that they intend to ultimately re-license under the GPL at a later point, so I suppose we should give them the opportunity to persue their OEM deals and see if they make good on that promise.
Linus Torvalds has decided to maintain the Linux kernel in a closed bombshell bunker, without releasing the source to anyone. We have started the project OpenLinus, which is trying to clone Linus from various Linus memorabilia in order to keep the GPL development going. Real Linus is fine with OpenLinus as long as the later does not impersonate the former.
I was thinking of how to intentionally fail my drug test... It would make a good memoir story someday.
How about:
Icy Penguin Balls
or
Frostbitten Penguin Privates
or
Damn, That Must Hurt Sliding Your Nuts on Ice
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
The GPL cuts boths ways, that's the important thing.
Damn sick...but funny in a twisted way :)
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Hey! Drop the whole OpenRacer junk, get Tux off his belly, up onto his fins, and on a snowboard! Take the TuxRacer code and do it, or pull out and retweak the TTPAQFH code (which I think is where TuxRacer originally came from). Throw some cool sunglasses on our favorite friend - take it and run!
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Hey, that probably covers half the people who read Slashdot :-)
I can hear them all now: "Cool! In addition to the FDA's new camera-pill, which lets me look at my own ass all day long, now I can look at a penguin's ass all day long too!
Speaking as a heterosexual male, if I've gotta look at a penguin's nether regions for an hour of gameplay per session, it might as well be a female penguin... It worked for Tomb Raider, didn't it? :)
The OEM agent has to sell the software to stores, no? Some don't want to deal with the added hassle of selling alternative software.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
Well, I look at you're message and see that you obviously lack the ability to follow an arguement. The guy who posted before me asked asked why an OEM should care what the hell software is on the CD. I said because sometimes the software is not compatible with mainstream OSs, which makes it harder to sell to stores. Obviously you missed the concept that an arguement can have subsections that are broader than the core issue.
.sig issue, I don't make fun of you for using an OS that lacks basic plug and play features (XFree can't detect non VESA monitor modes such as 1152x864 @ 85 Hz without resorting to modelines) so you don't make fun of me for using an OS that lacks a decent POSIX API.
As for the
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
Yes, XFree86 will happily detect modes that it supports. Unfortunately, these seem to be the standard VESA modes, so it will not detect modes like 1152x864 @ 85 Hz (which is what I run my monitor at). It defaults to the same res at 75Hz instead (which gives me a headache). In fact, I usually end up stealing the modelines of a BeOS machine, since BeOS does indeed detect the more strenuous modes correctly.
BTW> I was running XFree86 4.1 on Gentoo RC5.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
It seems like whenever a project becomed GPLed, the name is changed slightly from the original to include the word open, making it totally non-descript. While I will admit that the Star in StarOffice really had nothing to do with the product, Tux Racer says it all. Changing the name to Open Racer says nothing about the software and makes it sound so...plain. Would they be willing to accept suggetions for a different name for the GPLed branch, and does anyone have any good ideas?
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
OPENSOURCE FOUND TO BE GAMING DEAD END
January 4, 2002 -- Los Angeles -- The opensource community's first major game turned out to be a major bust, with total sales for 2001 at a mere 300 units, including promotional copies.
Tux Penguin, a game developed specificially for the Linux community, showed game retailers that there is little support for non-Windows games.
"In our surveys, we found not a single Linux gamer bought a copy," said Amanda Hugginhold, analyst for the independent Wintel Gaming Industry Coalition. "Apparently getting people who've lived on free software to pay for something is a whole different matter."
Although rumors of compatibility issues leading to the game's unpopularity were raised, Sunspire Studios CEO Eric Hall said the concerns had no validity.
"We give no credit to claims that our exclusive release on the Windows operating system impacted sales," said Hall. "Anyone knows that a serious gamer can reformat his Linux system with Windows and get playing in minutes. We're 100% hardware compatible and they know it."
When asked if the feature of a Linux mascot in a Windows game had any impact on the record underperformance, Hall was equally unconcerned.
"Who says those Linux geeks have a monopoly on Penguins? Bill Gates alone could buy all the penguins in the Antartic and then where would they be? Logoless!"
###
Simple answer, if I understand the GPL correctly, is that he cannot include user patches to the GPL'ed code into non-GPL'ed code unless they assigned their copyrights to him (unlikely to have happened) or otherwise explicitly/implicitly gave him control of it (dicey), or he implemented outside suggestions by writing his OWN code that is not a derivative work of others' patches (the most probable case, and VERY dicey, but likely unenforceable, especially if the others didn't clearly mark their contributions as GPLed). The critical point in the last case is whether the original developer did or didn't incorporate actual code written by others. The typical case of a user submitting a report that "there's a bug in line XXX of module YYY that should do Z but does Q" would likely not cause GPL trouble of this kind. I doubt this would be an obstacle in practice, but one never knows...
"My strength is as the strength of ten men, for I am wired to the eyeballs on espresso."
Did you see those screenshots?
I'm not too terribly in favor of staring at a penguin's hindquarters all day.
Reminds me of a certain goat-flavored website.
They aren't stopping the linux version. They are however going away from the GPL at least for the initial realease. From the Tux Racer website:
Tux Racer is NOT Windows-only
Thursday, August 2, 2001
Despite what some (very misleading) news articles have recently reported, the retail version of Tux Racer will be released for both Linux and Windows (and most likely the Macintosh); the binaries for all versions will be in the same box. Don't believe the hype!
These news articles are referring to an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) deal which is in the works, which (although the details have not been finalized) is for Windows only. Getting a Linux version added onto the OEM CD is something that we have considered and will try to do. The only obstacle to this is the fact that our OEM agent only supports Windows products. We will keep you posted.
Further, to clarify: while we will not initially release the source code to version 1.0 under the GPL (this is simply not an option for us in the commercial game market), we do intend to do so some time after the initial release.
If it's not that old, we haven't lost all that much.
The part about the publisher stipulating that the open-source effort not compete directly with the commercial effort worries me more. Might we see Microsoft releasing their own "closed" Linux, without release of srouce code, but stipulating that Linux development can continue, just not in direct compettion with windows?!?
There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
Now I don't have to reboot to linux to play games! .... oh wait a minute. /. users hate Windows or think Microsoft is out to get them!
____________________
Remember, not all
Prevent linux based DDOS's!
http://linux.denialofservice.org/
Well if this spin off project did go into direct competition with Tux Racer WTF could he do? Honestly? The code that was released under the GPL will always be under the GPL and you can make it go into competition with the proprietary version. In fact the GPL version would have more claim to the name "Tux" than the other. I think it would be a cool thing if the free (as in speech) version cloberd the closed version.
Molog
So Linus, what are we doing tonight?
So Linus, what are we going to do tonight?
The same thing we do every night Tux. Try to take over the world!
This is a copy of the first comment posted to the Newsforge story. Mod parent DOWN!
The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
From the TuxRacer.com front page:
Despite what some (very misleading) news articles have recently reported, the retail version of Tux Racer will be released for both Linux and Windows (and most likely the Macintosh); the binaries for all versions will be on the same CD. Don't believe the hype!
These news articles are referring to an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) deal which is in the works, which (although the details have not been finalized) is for Windows only. Getting a Linux version added onto the OEM CD is something that we have considered and will try to do. The only obstacle to this is the fact that our OEM agent only supports Windows products. We will keep you posted.
See - no problem. Just a large missunderstanding. Move along, nothing to see or flame here...
Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr - looking for something to read? Check out my three free novels at MidnightRyder.org
Ok, since like 1/3rd of the comments have been from people who read the story, and assumed it was correct, from the TuxRacer.com front page:
Despite what some (very misleading) news articles have recently reported, the retail version of Tux Racer will be released for both Linux and Windows (and most likely the Macintosh); the binaries for all versions will be on the same CD. Don't believe the hype!
These news articles are referring to an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) deal which is in the works, which (although the details have not been finalized) is for Windows only. Getting a Linux version added onto the OEM CD is something that we have considered and will try to do. The only obstacle to this is the fact that our OEM agent only supports Windows products. We will keep you posted.
All is cool here.
As for respecting thier wishes on an Open Source version of TuxRacer - why shouldn't he? He talked with them, told them what up, and they would prefer not to have to complete with a free game that is identical. Gee, seems reasonable to me - if someone gave me the opportunity to say if I had to compete against a free product or not, I'd sure be quick to say I'd like the free product to have a different direction than mine. Why, as a commercial developer, would you ENCOURAGE someone to write a completely free version of the game you are trying to sell on shelves and OEM bundles?
Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr - looking for something to read? Check out my three free novels at MidnightRyder.org
Seriously... the article doesn't say they don't want to closed-source release for Windows only... it says they have no OEM retailers to ship a linux version. They _did_ say they will want to eventually GPL it, as well as ship a CD with Windows, Mac, and Linux ports. Read, people, read!
-- Is "Sig" copyrighted by www.sig.com?
I see this as "Hey look, we'll charge all these windows assholes money for what the linux community is getting for free! hahaha." Is that really so bad.
"I want to pay money for it too"
no, thanks.
"It has always been this way and it won't change, god bless the fucked up USA" The Briefs
I think it is offensive to have a game that was GPL'd, then make it closed source, and keep the main character as the "Tux, the Linux Penguin".
IMHO, they should change the character, maybe something like "William, the wanking weasel" for the closed source release.
I'm not dictating their policy, they can do whatever they think is right, but this is a very odd thing they've done, forking to closed source at version 1.0
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
>>Why bother keeping with their wishes in mind?
>>If they want to go proprietary, so be it, but
>>why listen to them? They are he ones that are
>> forcing YOU to continue the project.
(emphasis: mine)
Yes that's correct they, Sunspire Studios, forced YOU to continue the project. Did you read that out load before you sent it? Sunspire Studios didn't force anybody to do anything.
Those bastards! They went and re-released their product with a non-open source license! Why bother keeping with their wishes in mind? Look how badly they have WRONGED you. How dare them?
This is just an example of attaching judgment by association.
I like A
A is associated with B
Therefore all good and bad things about A are now attached to B.
I like open source software
linux is open source software
Therefore I must like linux
This company is the greatest company ever and their very very wonderful fully-featured without being bloated software is the best software ever. Just because they do something you like (release software under an open source license), but when they do something you don't like(re-release with a closed source software license) then their the devil(just imagine the how the water boys' mom says it.). Now their the worse company ever and their product sucks and is bloated.
Sadly this is an all to common line-of-thought on slashdot.
Anything remotely related to Microsoft is the devil!
Any company that doesn't embrace open source is the devil!
This kind of thinking (or lack there of) is extremely narrow-minded and shows a lack of intelligence. It's zealots that slam procuts/companys/causes/et al.(that they believe to be anti their position)without just cause that tarnish their own cause.
Flame me I am full of love
chad
This is a sig.
any questions?
chad
ERROR 404: sig not found
I wonder if they got permission to do this from all of those 18 contributors listed in the AUTHORS file. Well, I guess they did, they probably aren't stupid.
So, not only will there be a Linux version, but nearly everyone who buys the game will have it.
Only until a new version of glibc breaks it. Closed source is lame and unacceptable. There's no getting around it. If you fight it, it will only turn around and bite you in the arse. How many Linux people will buy a boxed copy of this when there is a free version. How many windows people will buy this being that it is a simple game from an unfamiliar company? What is there to gain by closing it? I don't think it would sell any less in the stores if it was GPL anyways considering the audience who will be looking at it.
As a side note, I am currently in the process of developing a GPL'ed-forever Linux game that will surpass most everything before it. I have recruited 5 other programmers and 2 graphics artists. All of them are willing to contribute in their free time because they like my idea. Who needs commercialism. Sounds vaporous? Yes. There will be details posted on Freshmeat once I get a nice looking page up with concept graphics and specs.
I mean, just who do they expect to buy this?
Windows users looking for a good Linux oriented game?
Linux users who have the open version?
I don't get it.
KFG
Read the article. They said that the problem is the OEM company doesn't want to support the Linux version - their trying to get the Linux version included in the boxed set, or even on the same CD. So, not only will there be a Linux version, but nearly everyone who buys the game will have it.
I find it very insulting that they are using the Linux mascot.
Perhaps they could call it WinRacer: "Ski the Windows logo into the pits of hell while collecting small companies along the way!" Yay!
Why bother keeping with their wishes in mind? If they want to go proprietary, so be it, but why listen to them? They are he ones that are forcing YOU to continue the project. I think its best to view projects that have been taken proprietary like this as orphaned projects, that same as any other orphaned projects. Jsut my two cents.
Larry Ewing owns tux. His lisense: "Permission to use and/or modify this image is granted provided you acknowledge me lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP if someone asks."
Okay, let's analyze this. You're forking an freely available open source game whose plot is basically a penguin sliding down a ski slope. How can this possibly not compete with a commercial game with the same exact concept and practically identical code plus a few new pixmaps as additional characters? Can someone explain this to me, I've obviously missed something.
there are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots
I was surprised and a little upset when I saw they wrote their own title.
My original title merely indicated that Tux Racer 1.0 was going to be closed source and that I would be working on the GPLed codebase in an effort to make a derivative.
I hope you can get the Linux version out there. As I have stated before to you. I really hope that the commercial version meets as much success as possible.
It is sad that geeks, who should be those with the highest level of scholarism should be so quick to twist things to fit the mold of bias. I am sorry for any damage this may have done to sunspire; it was not my intention.
My goal in saving tux racer is to save tux racer, not to compete with sunspire and get into an Xemacs vs Emacs, ssh vs openssh, etc war. The best way I saw of doing that was to attempt to develop in a different direction. Furthermore, Sunspire _does_ have 0.61 as an open source version. If I competed with them, they could leverage their marketing head-start against me, killing the Open Racer project. As it lies now, Sunspire has agreed to link to the Open Racer site from the Tux Racer site, which gives me the advantage of having their head-start in publicity. I have no intention to compete with Sunspire. I couldn't do so even if I wanted to. They have a head start of several programmers coding for six months. I have one programmer (myself), who can throw maybe an hour or two every week. Again, if anyone is interested with ideas, or suggestions, or anyone wants to code or do artwork, let me know at my email address.
Are you sure about this? If I had contributed code to Tux Racer I would be pretty miffed if I found out that I didn't have any rights to stop them selling my code as their commercial product...
Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
The Code may be GPL'ed, but how are the artwork, maps, etc? While it's true that anyone can do anything with the code (compliant with GPL terms), they would have to have sunspire's "ok" to re-release the artwork and maps and things.
Dudes, you're over-reacting.
/* Function: find the secret text encoded in the 573034th - 573040th digits //allow C++ standard input and output. //define "num" as an integer equal to 9422983. //output " and newline. //define temp as an integer. // until we haven't processed the whole number, do: //1 make temp the right-most 4 bits of the number //2 remove the right-most 4 bits from the number //3 output removed bits as an offset from 'A' //4 if the offset is even, add a space. //output newline, ", and newline. //ANSI standard return value on successful end.
"We hope to eventually release the source code for 1.0 under the GPL," says Patry.
Nothing to worry about: after all, he's one of us, remember?
But I don't undestand something.
How can a closed-source work EVER be the next point-oh of a GPL'd framework? Wouldn't it mean rewriting it so that NONE of the code in the closed-source version has the "tainted" (virus-like) GPL code? Right now I have the whole source code (of an earlier version) on my hard-drive. Will the new version use none of this while it is closed-source?
Or is the current version not GPL'd at all, but only available on the whim of the author. That's not what seems to be the case. Does anyone know how this can be legal?
Robert.
Oh, and another thing, off-topic (since you're not going to see this because the story is too down the front page): I found this cute message in the digits of pi 573034-573040 (that is, the sequence "...9422983..."[this link doesn't count the "3" before the decimal point.]). Of note is that 573034 is nearly 2^19th, the difference being exactly 32 less than 2*29*29*29:
of pi. (Where "14159" would be digits 1st-5th,
since pi starts 3."14159"...)
*/
#include
int main()
{
int num = 9422983;
cout << "The following text's in the 573034th -573040th digits of pi:\n";
cout << "\"\n";
int temp;
while (num > 0) {
temp = num & 0xF;
num >>= 4;
cout << char('a' + temp);
if(!(temp%2)) cout << " ";
}
cout << "\n\"\n";
return 0;
}
--
sure go ahead and do a windows app on gpl codebase, you can't take our TuxRacer from us, even if you make us change the name to Open racer. I applaud you for picking this up and wish you the best of luck with the fun game that tux racer is!
"The Most Fun Possible on 4 wheels" is at SunBuggy in Las Vegas
if you don't like Tux, the 1.0 release will be more politically correct. Sunspire is adding other little critters, including a seal, a polar bear, and a female penguin.
Yes, having a female penguin falling down a mountain and hitting obstacles sounds far more politically correct than a male penguin. And from the user's point of view, wouldn't you almost be forced to look up her skirt?
---
Developers: We can use your help.
Can you assure us that every line of code in the commercial version was written by you in a clean room environment, or by open source contributors who have given their explicit consent for you to make money off of your work?
I ask because I'd like to see this work, so it's vital that everybody involved has happy faces and there's not the slightest suspicion of dodgy dealings.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
That assumes that they'll make money selling a game that is 4 years old on the fun side.What Windows user would buy this game?Alex
A winner is you!
One of the reasons Patry cites for making TuxRacer closed source is that there was "very little outside support."
I find this quite annoying, because I personally offered to help in several emails, all of which were ignored with no response.
Don't blame other people for not helping when you don't even *respond* to offers of help! Its offensive to me that Patry is passing off the responsibility of closing the source to these 'un-helpful developers.' I feel that he should have thought about whether or not he wanted to sell the game eventually before he licensed it under the GPL.
um, no.
I thought the same thing, but then I thought maybe it's not such a bad idea afterall. It might be a good way to introduce kids to Tux and who he is and could maybe(?) even be seen as a starting point to get them interested in Linux. I know it's a long shot, but who knows?
And I have to say, there's no great loss to the open-source community here.
USA Intellectual Property Laws: 5 monkeys, 1 hour.
I'm the stranger...posting to
How about all those people that linux is supposedly trying to attract; the people who just use computers and aren't tall enough for the "You must be this elite to use this operation system" gates.
How many windows people will buy this being that it is a simple game from an unfamiliar company?
The market for "casual gamers" is way larger than the hardcore gaming market. That's why games like "Who wants to be a millionaire" outsell ones like "Doom 62."
What is there to gain by closing it?
Money? A chance for the author to work on it full time instead of part time? Moving out of the crowd of n-thousand other linux programs that all work the same and are never finished?
am currently in the process of developing a GPL'ed-forever Linux game that will surpass most everything before it.
Good luck with it. Hopefully it won't turn out to be one of the 75% of all SourceForge games that languishes forever at status "1-Planning"
...Or a Blue Screen Of Death.
I'd like to reassure everyone that we have not abandoned the Linux version. The Linux and Windows versions are at the exact same stage of development. We fully intend to release the retail Linux version of Tux Racer at the same time as the retail Windows version; in fact they will be in the same box.
The final details of the OEM deal have not been finalized. Getting a Linux version added onto the CD is something that we have considered and will try to do. The only obstacle to this is the fact that our OEM agent only supports Windows products. We will keep you posted.
Jasmin Patry, Lead Programmer, Tux Racer