Myth 2 Server Goes Open Source

iMacGuy writes: "As announced on Bungie.net, the Myth 2 Internet Server will be shutting down on February 15. However, they have released the source code. It runs on Linux currently, and can be ported to Windows, *BSD, and Mac OS X."

Comments

Good job...

[Saeculorum]

I'm rather ambiguous about the open source "movement", but I have to appreciate any company that gives out their products when they no longer are being supported. I've been screwed too many times with products that were truly good, but just a year out of date.

Hopefully other companies will take bungie.net's lead and release server software as well. In my mind, it can't hurt the company (although some way will probably be pointed out to me :) ), it simply allows their software to be even better supported. It extends the "shelf-life" of the software - maybe they'll make some money from the $5 bargain bin, even if the company is no longer running the server for the product. It also allows for very quick security fixes, and for playability fixes that usually take weeks to months for companies to implement. I can already invision custom designed servers for different groups.

Or this might just be my ever idealistic mind... Til later.

Myth == Gaming System, for those of you who wonder

[billstewart]

Like so many /. stories, this one's abstract assumes you know what FooBarBazz is,which all the FooBarBazz insiders know and some but often nowhere near all of the non-insiders have no clue because the name doesn't tell you. Is a "Myth Internet Server" a gamer thing, or a new operating system kernel, or a graphics widget, or a new coding project on Freshmeat?

Anyway, Myth II is a gaming environment. Here's the story from the Myth Vault on bungie.net web site, in case it gets /.ed.

Myth Game Server Open Source
February 7, 2002
By Mordia

Nothing in this world is permanent, and this must also be said of gaming servers. Over the past five years many of you have enjoyed the thrill of playing the Myth games online, as well as experienced the pains of a downed server or a rank reset. Ah! Memories! The time has come, however, to bid farewell to the old and tired Myth II game server.

We are finally and officially closing the doors on the Myth gaming servers for all time. Myth II online's last day will be Friday, February 15.

However, we realize that by doing so we leave a lot of people without a place to call home. So, what we intend to do is give it to you. Any of you who want it. The server that is. On this site you will find downloadable the Myth II metaserver source code. Do with it what you will!

Want to be an admin? Go for it! Want to make your own ranking system? Everything you need to do so is here. Have a yen for a custom WW2 server? You can make it!

This is the raw Myth II metaserver source code, stripped of a few proprietary bits of code, but still run-able. You can modify it in any way you want and use it for most anything you want. The only real conditions are that you don't then try to sell it and that you leave all the copyright and other legal notices with the code. Be sure to read the short, but very legal license agreement that comes with it before going nuts, but afterwards, go nuts.

The Myth Vault site will serve as a central location for the Myth game server development community, with a forum for people interested in discussing the code and the possibilities. In the future this site may also offer links to fan run servers, leader boards, order databases, whatever--that's all up to you.

License is not OSD compatible

[David Jao]

A quick check of the software license indicates that the source code is licensed for "non-commercial purposes only". This violates clause 6 of the Open Source Definition.

It's really too bad the Open Source trademark was rejected, because tactics like this lead to a lot of genuine confusion about what open source software really means.

I Wonder What the Higher-Ups will think..

[BlackGriffen]

Isn't Bungie a fully owned subsidiary of M$? I wonder if the Bungie folks consulted their masters, and if they did, does this portend a possible softening of M$'s hard line against Open Source? There's more to this, I feel it (whether this is a nod to Open Source from M$, or if this will be followed by a reigning in of Bungie's autonomy, I don't know).

BlackGriffen

Re:Not true.

[Arker]

Ironically enough, the literal content of your post is correct. It's not true. The code is being released, but not, as the headline claims, as open source.

Microsoft Broad Source License

This License governs use of the accompanying
Bungie.net game server software (the "Software").
Microsoft hopes you find this Software useful.

You are granted a
non-exclusive license to do anything you want with the Software, including but
not limited to the right to make modifications to the Software, provided that
all use of the Software is for non-commercial purposes only.

In return, we simply require that you agree:

1. Not to remove any copyright notices from the Software.
2. That the Software comes "as is", with no warranties. None whatsoever. This means no implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or any warranty of non-infringement. Microsoft will provide no product support for
   the Software. You must pass this
   disclaimer on whenever you transfer the Software.
3. That we will not be liable for any of those types of damages known as indirect,
   special, consequential, or incidental related to the Software or this License. You must pass this limitation
   of liability on whenever you transfer the Software.
4. That if you sue anyone over patents that you think may apply to the Software, your
   license to the Software ends automatically (this applies even when the rest of
   the License ends).
5. That the patent rights Microsoft is licensing only apply to the Software, not to any derivatives you make.
6. That your rights under the License end automatically if you breach this in any way.

By installing, copying,
downloading, accessing or otherwise using the Software, you agree to be bound
by the terms of this License.

Re:Good for them, but what about Warcraft III?

[iabervon]

Note that this isn't Myth II itself, but the metaserver, which allows people's copies of the game to find each other and negotiate games.

This doesn't mean they're opening the Myth II engine; it just means that when bungie.net isn't running a Myth II server, people who want to play online can still do so.

So what if Microsoft owns Bungie?

[panthro]

Yes, Microsoft owns Bungie. No, Micorosoft does not normally release their source code. Yes, Myth II's server runs on Linux.

Am I missing something? I ask because I fail to see the dilemma, or surprise, or whatever it is that has people hot and bothered in this situation.

First off, Microsoft does not immediately impose a Win32 regime on companies it acquires. They do not operate on their image, or on a basis of "we hate Open Source and Linux." They operate for profit, and killing software that's already been implemented simply to show off that they don't need Linux or Open Source is not profitable. MS acquired Hotmail a long time ago IIRC, and they're still dependent on FreeBSD servers for some of it. Bungie wrote their server for Linux (whether before or after they were acquired by MS) and there is no point in forcing them to develop it for Windows instead. Also, the fact that Bungie has given away the code to that server does not imply that Microsoft is "embracing" Open Source, it simply means that someone decided keeping the official servers up was too expensive, but that it would be shitty to just cut people off, and that releasing the source code could only make profits go up (see the bargain bin thing in another post). I'm sure Microsoft has no problem with anything that does not cut into profit and could potentially increase it.

The argument that could be made is that image does indeed affect people's esteem of and confidence in MS, but in this case we're not dealing with MS directly but a subsidiary company. Bungie releasing source code does not hurt MS's ego. If MS released the code to FrontPage or WinXP, that would be different... but they haven't.