Perhaps Atari is bringing this test case in order to see how much of a case it has against the publishers of the games in that category. If Atari wins, expect the takedowns to fly on GitHub.
Since the ad specifically used the work "Breakout", that won't help. [...] that is a trademark issue, not copyright.
Glad someone can tell the difference. I was disappointed that the BBC article didn't clarify whether Atari asserted a claim under trademark or copyright.
Does the title even appear in the ad? Ad titles aren't shown when an ad is played on TV.
I remember the days we had [to use applications exclusive to several different platforms] in one of my work places. Most of it was resolved with a Citrix-like solution that ran on a webpage.
Except nowadays people expect to be able to use applications while away from a desk. In order for "a Citrix-like solution" to work, then either your task would have to be one that can always be performed in Wi-Fi coverage, or your work place would need to cover the cost of cellular Internet.
Or conversely, you can develop the webapp and not try to pretend it's a native executable because a webapp in an exe isn't really distinct from a webapp in a browser, but it is a fair amount more maintenance work to bother.
If you want a desktop app specifically, design in a way that delivers something of value over hosting it in the users web browser.
That's fine so long as you don't need system APIs that the browser doesn't expose. For example, two things that work in Discord's Electron app and not in Discord's web app are push-to-talk for voice chat and automatically setting the "Playing" message based on what other executables are running. Are those big enough to be "something of value"?
How does one lawfully obtain a copy of the proprietary Google Play Store app for use with BlueStacks App Player? I thought it was lawfully available only as a preinstalled on certified mobile devices.
Use C++, use Qt, and you can support Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, and many other OSes.
Though an established business can afford the ongoing cost of hardware and developer program subscriptions required to test on all those, a hobbyist or startup cannot necessarily.
BlueStacks App Player [...] doesn't work for Android apps that are exclusive to Google Play Store or rely on Google Play Services.
There are many android emulators out there for the pc. Bluestacks or whatever it's called was one I used.
I mentioned that earlier. But if an application for Android is offered only through Google Play Store, what should an individual who wishes to use it in BlueStacks App Player do to convince its publisher to make it available to users of BlueStacks App Player?
But, in practice, it's extremely rare that you can't find a natively compiled version of what you need
Find me an iOS app development tool natively compiled for Windows or GNU/Linux. Find me U.S. individual income tax return preparation software natively compiled for GNU/Linux. Or are those among the "extremely rare" examples?
If I already have to develop a web app, I might as well just use that for the "stand alone" app as well.
Except technically, you don't. You can choose not to develop a web app at all and instead provide a native version as a Win32 executable tested in Windows and Wine, with your web work consisting of screenshots and video tutorials to promote its download and installation. You don't see a lot of Steam games also being available as a web app, do you?
They don't know C. They don't know C++. They don't know Java. They don't know C#. They don't know anything other than web development.
That or a developer has tried writing applications in C++ before, but he has run into political problems getting corporate, school, and public library IT departments to permit installation of applications written in C++ on machines that they own. In addition, most end users have shown themselves unwilling to download C++ source code and learn how to compile it, nor to install a Linux virtual machine in which to run an executable version on Windows or macOS. Or should a developer instead build web applications in C++ using Emscripten or WebAssembly?
You can run Android apps in various ways on a laptop, so scratch the need for the Android tablet.
To which "ways" do you refer? I'm aware of two:
Android in a VM
Running an x86 or x86-64 build of Android Open Source Project in a virtual machine on a PC might be fine for apps available as a loose APK, through Amazon Appstore, or through F-Droid. So might BlueStacks App Player, which I'm told actually emulates an Android device's ARM CPU. But it doesn't work for Android apps that are exclusive to Google Play Store or rely on Google Play Services.
Android apps on Chromebook
Google Chrome on recent Chromebook laptops can run Android apps from Google Play Store. So that technically counts as Android apps on a laptop. The corresponding feature in Google Chrome for Windows, macOS, or X11/Linux is called ARC Welder, but a review says it's glitchy and lacks Google Play on other than Chrome OS. This which is why I mentioned having to carry a Chromebook to make use of this feature.
There are few applications on FreeBSD you can't compile for Linux
Which is where the RAM upgrade comes in. In order to run Windows, FreeBSD, or GNU/Linux in a virtual machine in macOS on a MacBook, you may need more RAM than Apple includes with the base model. But mostly I'm referring to apps for X11/POSIX that work on FreeBSD and GNU/Linux but haven't been ported to Win32 or Cocoa. Perhaps one possibility is to install Xcode, Homebrew, and an X server, and buy a second Mac for the maintainer of each app you're trying to build and use under Homebrew so that he can investigate the issues that you file in the issue tracker.
possibly a Windows VM if the Windows application doesn't work under Wine.
Which again is where the RAM upgrade comes in, along with the Windows license.
There is a limit the school board determines is safe for kids to walk/ride on their own. Let's call that distance "x". Above a certain distance from the school, buses MUST be provided. Let's call that distance "y".
Where I live, that's one mile (1.6 km) for elementary school, one and one-half miles (2.4 km) for middle school, or two miles (3.2 km) for high school. But this is as the crow flies. If the one-mile commute is actually two and a half in order to avoid crossing a river, railroad tracks, or a large piece of private property, too bad. And even if it is practical in fair weather, carrying a backpack full of heavy books two miles each way in a thunderstorm, winter storm, or heat advisory is not fun.
Nor do school districts feel an obligation to provide bus service for students who have a good reason to arrive or depart other than just before and after the bell. If the student has detention, too bad; the bus has already left. And if the student stays late to attend sport practice or to type homework in the school's computer lab due to not having the use of a desktop or laptop computer at home, too bad; the bus has already left. If the student would arrive early to eat breakfast in the school cafeteria or because the honors program offers an extra class period before first period, too bad; the bus does not arrive in time.
Why do you allow software written in languages other than JavaScript?
Because it is free software that is included in the repository of FreeBSD, Fedora, or Debian, which means it has undergone at least some level of third-party code review. Most applications that use script-in-the-browser have not. Some people who consider script-in-the-browser a "trap" make an exception for free software with machine-readable license markup.
Cross-platform frameworks are intended for one thing and one thing only: to reduce development costs. And they all do it at the cost of software quality.
Say you need to run five applications, the first exclusive to macOS, the second exclusive to Windows, the third exclusive to X11/Linux and FreeBSD, the fourth exclusive to iOS, and the fifth exclusive to Android. You'd have to buy and carry a MacBook, a RAM upgrade therefor in order to run virtual machines, a Windows license, an iPhone or iPad, and an Android phone, Android tablet, or recent Chromebook. That's a lot of cost, weight, and chargers to keep track of.
20th century called. They want their computer back.
A lot of laptops still in use have one or two SODIMM slots that take modules up to 2 GB, for a maximum of 2 or 4 GB of RAM unless you somehow connect a USB RAM drive and put swap on it. These include netbooks, used ThinkPad X61 computers made in 2007 or thereabouts, and more.
Keeping it a web application won't satisfy the "I refuse to turn on scripting in the browser" crowd who frequents sites like this, if comments to stories about Chrome's adoption of WebAssembly on Slashdot and on SoylentNews are any indication. Or by "web application", do you refer to an application where all scripting is server-side and all interactivity is through link navigation and form submission?
You generally don't haul your TV set around with you; so now we're off the topic of "mobile" operation.
The use case that Ubuntu Touch tried to address was "I want mobile apps while mobile, but I want desktop apps when I've set the phone on the top of my desk, and I don't want to have to buy a $999 laptop in addition to the perfectly good computing device I already own."
I can't run macOS, Linux or Windows Applications on my iPhone for the same reason you can't run Linux Applications on your Android phone; i.e., because they don't share a processor architecture; not because of screen-size limitations. It has NOTHING to do with "Lockdown", FFS!
Install GNURoot Debian and optionally XSDL on an unrooted Android device with an ARM CPU, and you can recompile GNU/Linux applications from source code for ARM, or you can apt-get compiled versions from the ARM version of the Debian repository. The biggest thing a user of GNU/Linux on ARM misses compared to GNU/Linux on x86-64 is Wine.
Unless you are a poor kid with no assets, you're better off just paying for what you use.
Most people in the world are "a poor kid with no assets." Even if you limit it to U.S. residents, most people lack billions of dollars to purchase a controlling interest in a publisher that refuses to take people's money. For example, in order for a U.S. resident to find a lawful stream of the film Song of the South or Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night or the TV series Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea, he'd first have to buy half the voting stock of the owner of copyright in each of those works in order to force the publisher to make it available at all. I'd bet not even President Trump is rich enough for that route.
So, in the end, since my job is not Network Analysis
It doesn't need to be someone's job; it could be a hobby, with users helping users avoid bad networks. An app listing nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and letting users read and post reviews of the hotspots would need to see which MACs or SSIDs are near a particular user. For example: "The Subway Guest Wi-Fi here cuts you off after half an hour and then locks you out of rejoining for another half hour." The app would use the SSID and/or MAC to ensure that the review actually refers to the same AP. Unfortunately, with the API restrictions on iOS, you won't be getting Yelp for Hotspots on an iPhone.
And quite frankly, the very real limitation of screen size on a phone makes some Applications simply impractical.
What (technical) limitation? Try connecting your iPhone to your living room TV through AirPlay to an Apple TV or through the Lightning to HDMI cable. At that point, the iPhone's touch screen could behave as a Magic Trackpad. The only thing keeping an iPhone from running desktop-like apps in this way is the lockdown.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps Atari is bringing this test case in order to see how much of a case it has against the publishers of the games in that category. If Atari wins, expect the takedowns to fly on GitHub.
Since the ad specifically used the work "Breakout", that won't help. [...] that is a trademark issue, not copyright.
Glad someone can tell the difference. I was disappointed that the BBC article didn't clarify whether Atari asserted a claim under trademark or copyright.
Does the title even appear in the ad? Ad titles aren't shown when an ad is played on TV.
For one thing, that depends on the country.
For another, in Slashdot's home country, you can copyright those elements that are just outside the scope of "mechanics". For example, the mechanics of Tetris aren't copyrighted, but the specific use of the seven one-sided tetrominoes with those mechanics is.
I remember the days we had [to use applications exclusive to several different platforms] in one of my work places. Most of it was resolved with a Citrix-like solution that ran on a webpage.
Except nowadays people expect to be able to use applications while away from a desk. In order for "a Citrix-like solution" to work, then either your task would have to be one that can always be performed in Wi-Fi coverage, or your work place would need to cover the cost of cellular Internet.
Or conversely, you can develop the webapp and not try to pretend it's a native executable because a webapp in an exe isn't really distinct from a webapp in a browser, but it is a fair amount more maintenance work to bother.
If you want a desktop app specifically, design in a way that delivers something of value over hosting it in the users web browser.
That's fine so long as you don't need system APIs that the browser doesn't expose. For example, two things that work in Discord's Electron app and not in Discord's web app are push-to-talk for voice chat and automatically setting the "Playing" message based on what other executables are running. Are those big enough to be "something of value"?
How does one lawfully obtain a copy of the proprietary Google Play Store app for use with BlueStacks App Player? I thought it was lawfully available only as a preinstalled on certified mobile devices.
Use C++, use Qt, and you can support Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, and many other OSes.
Though an established business can afford the ongoing cost of hardware and developer program subscriptions required to test on all those, a hobbyist or startup cannot necessarily.
BlueStacks App Player [...] doesn't work for Android apps that are exclusive to Google Play Store or rely on Google Play Services.
There are many android emulators out there for the pc. Bluestacks or whatever it's called was one I used.
I mentioned that earlier. But if an application for Android is offered only through Google Play Store, what should an individual who wishes to use it in BlueStacks App Player do to convince its publisher to make it available to users of BlueStacks App Player?
But, in practice, it's extremely rare that you can't find a natively compiled version of what you need
Find me an iOS app development tool natively compiled for Windows or GNU/Linux. Find me U.S. individual income tax return preparation software natively compiled for GNU/Linux. Or are those among the "extremely rare" examples?
Yes, if you're aiming your software for specialized environments then you have to adapt to what the environment requires.
And in practice, adapting to the environment of "people who regularly use a PC that someone else owns" means script-in-the-browser.
The least you can do is actually produce a build for the operating systems you support.
Between C++ and script-in-the-browser, C++ will leave more users staring at "Sorry, we do not support your operating system yet."
And for the majority of users, suboptimal software beats completely unavailable software.
If I already have to develop a web app, I might as well just use that for the "stand alone" app as well.
Except technically, you don't. You can choose not to develop a web app at all and instead provide a native version as a Win32 executable tested in Windows and Wine, with your web work consisting of screenshots and video tutorials to promote its download and installation. You don't see a lot of Steam games also being available as a web app, do you?
They don't know C. They don't know C++. They don't know Java. They don't know C#. They don't know anything other than web development.
That or a developer has tried writing applications in C++ before, but he has run into political problems getting corporate, school, and public library IT departments to permit installation of applications written in C++ on machines that they own. In addition, most end users have shown themselves unwilling to download C++ source code and learn how to compile it, nor to install a Linux virtual machine in which to run an executable version on Windows or macOS. Or should a developer instead build web applications in C++ using Emscripten or WebAssembly?
You can run Android apps in various ways on a laptop, so scratch the need for the Android tablet.
To which "ways" do you refer? I'm aware of two:
Android in a VM Running an x86 or x86-64 build of Android Open Source Project in a virtual machine on a PC might be fine for apps available as a loose APK, through Amazon Appstore, or through F-Droid. So might BlueStacks App Player, which I'm told actually emulates an Android device's ARM CPU. But it doesn't work for Android apps that are exclusive to Google Play Store or rely on Google Play Services. Android apps on Chromebook Google Chrome on recent Chromebook laptops can run Android apps from Google Play Store. So that technically counts as Android apps on a laptop. The corresponding feature in Google Chrome for Windows, macOS, or X11/Linux is called ARC Welder, but a review says it's glitchy and lacks Google Play on other than Chrome OS. This which is why I mentioned having to carry a Chromebook to make use of this feature.There are few applications on FreeBSD you can't compile for Linux
Which is where the RAM upgrade comes in. In order to run Windows, FreeBSD, or GNU/Linux in a virtual machine in macOS on a MacBook, you may need more RAM than Apple includes with the base model. But mostly I'm referring to apps for X11/POSIX that work on FreeBSD and GNU/Linux but haven't been ported to Win32 or Cocoa. Perhaps one possibility is to install Xcode, Homebrew, and an X server, and buy a second Mac for the maintainer of each app you're trying to build and use under Homebrew so that he can investigate the issues that you file in the issue tracker.
possibly a Windows VM if the Windows application doesn't work under Wine.
Which again is where the RAM upgrade comes in, along with the Windows license.
There is a limit the school board determines is safe for kids to walk/ride on their own. Let's call that distance "x". Above a certain distance from the school, buses MUST be provided. Let's call that distance "y".
Where I live, that's one mile (1.6 km) for elementary school, one and one-half miles (2.4 km) for middle school, or two miles (3.2 km) for high school. But this is as the crow flies. If the one-mile commute is actually two and a half in order to avoid crossing a river, railroad tracks, or a large piece of private property, too bad. And even if it is practical in fair weather, carrying a backpack full of heavy books two miles each way in a thunderstorm, winter storm, or heat advisory is not fun.
Nor do school districts feel an obligation to provide bus service for students who have a good reason to arrive or depart other than just before and after the bell. If the student has detention, too bad; the bus has already left. And if the student stays late to attend sport practice or to type homework in the school's computer lab due to not having the use of a desktop or laptop computer at home, too bad; the bus has already left. If the student would arrive early to eat breakfast in the school cafeteria or because the honors program offers an extra class period before first period, too bad; the bus does not arrive in time.
Why do you allow software written in languages other than JavaScript?
Because it is free software that is included in the repository of FreeBSD, Fedora, or Debian, which means it has undergone at least some level of third-party code review. Most applications that use script-in-the-browser have not. Some people who consider script-in-the-browser a "trap" make an exception for free software with machine-readable license markup.
Cross-platform frameworks are intended for one thing and one thing only: to reduce development costs. And they all do it at the cost of software quality.
Say you need to run five applications, the first exclusive to macOS, the second exclusive to Windows, the third exclusive to X11/Linux and FreeBSD, the fourth exclusive to iOS, and the fifth exclusive to Android. You'd have to buy and carry a MacBook, a RAM upgrade therefor in order to run virtual machines, a Windows license, an iPhone or iPad, and an Android phone, Android tablet, or recent Chromebook. That's a lot of cost, weight, and chargers to keep track of.
20th century called. They want their computer back.
A lot of laptops still in use have one or two SODIMM slots that take modules up to 2 GB, for a maximum of 2 or 4 GB of RAM unless you somehow connect a USB RAM drive and put swap on it. These include netbooks, used ThinkPad X61 computers made in 2007 or thereabouts, and more.
*Have* to drop them off? There's no buses
Not when the school district has had to cut back the bus service due to property tax caps.
bicycles
They're not old enough to legally work to buy a bicycle.
or feet they could use?
Until child protective services kidnaps your child for being unaccompanied.
Keeping it a web application won't satisfy the "I refuse to turn on scripting in the browser" crowd who frequents sites like this, if comments to stories about Chrome's adoption of WebAssembly on Slashdot and on SoylentNews are any indication. Or by "web application", do you refer to an application where all scripting is server-side and all interactivity is through link navigation and form submission?
You generally don't haul your TV set around with you; so now we're off the topic of "mobile" operation.
The use case that Ubuntu Touch tried to address was "I want mobile apps while mobile, but I want desktop apps when I've set the phone on the top of my desk, and I don't want to have to buy a $999 laptop in addition to the perfectly good computing device I already own."
I can't run macOS, Linux or Windows Applications on my iPhone for the same reason you can't run Linux Applications on your Android phone; i.e., because they don't share a processor architecture; not because of screen-size limitations. It has NOTHING to do with "Lockdown", FFS!
Install GNURoot Debian and optionally XSDL on an unrooted Android device with an ARM CPU, and you can recompile GNU/Linux applications from source code for ARM, or you can apt-get compiled versions from the ARM version of the Debian repository. The biggest thing a user of GNU/Linux on ARM misses compared to GNU/Linux on x86-64 is Wine.
If I am at home, I have a laptop
You do. Others don't.
If so, the stream's description would include a license identifier.
Unless you are a poor kid with no assets, you're better off just paying for what you use.
Most people in the world are "a poor kid with no assets." Even if you limit it to U.S. residents, most people lack billions of dollars to purchase a controlling interest in a publisher that refuses to take people's money. For example, in order for a U.S. resident to find a lawful stream of the film Song of the South or Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night or the TV series Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea, he'd first have to buy half the voting stock of the owner of copyright in each of those works in order to force the publisher to make it available at all. I'd bet not even President Trump is rich enough for that route.
There is no app I would ever get sucked into "renting", ever.
And what would you recommend for web animation now that Adobe Animate CC is rental-only?
Full scene animation or small games. Use Unity or a similar tool that can export to WebGL.
Unity is also a rental: $420 per seat per year until your entire company has $200,000 in annual revenue, then $1500 per seat per year. (Sources: "Subscription! Why?", "Evolution of our products and pricing", and "Unity Pro, Unity Plus and Unity Personal Software Additional Terms") So that rules out Unity by markdavis's standard. Which "similar tool that can export to WebGL" did you have in mind?
So, in the end, since my job is not Network Analysis
It doesn't need to be someone's job; it could be a hobby, with users helping users avoid bad networks. An app listing nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and letting users read and post reviews of the hotspots would need to see which MACs or SSIDs are near a particular user. For example: "The Subway Guest Wi-Fi here cuts you off after half an hour and then locks you out of rejoining for another half hour." The app would use the SSID and/or MAC to ensure that the review actually refers to the same AP. Unfortunately, with the API restrictions on iOS, you won't be getting Yelp for Hotspots on an iPhone.
And quite frankly, the very real limitation of screen size on a phone makes some Applications simply impractical.
What (technical) limitation? Try connecting your iPhone to your living room TV through AirPlay to an Apple TV or through the Lightning to HDMI cable. At that point, the iPhone's touch screen could behave as a Magic Trackpad. The only thing keeping an iPhone from running desktop-like apps in this way is the lockdown.