Can anyone find details of the license this game is being released under? I can't, even in the SVN repos. I know the Quake II engine is GPL, but what about the rest of it?
You make it sound like I'm a leach and that I don't donate. Now that's pretty silly as you cannot know I'm a paying member of both FSF and EFF.
I'm sorry, dear OP. I meant my donation comment for/. readers in general, not you specifically. We are both members of the organizations you mention.
Now, if you carefully observe the world around you, you might notice that in disputes money can change hands. Usually to compensate for damages. What makes this case so special that it would not be necessary? Why should the donation money go down the drain and why should the accused NOT pay up? Regardless of the side you're on, litigation in court costs.
Your first statement is correct. Money can change hands in disputes, but it certainly doesn't have to. Before lawyers and law school tuition were invented, lots of people settled disputes in various ways not involving money, lawyers and courts. Resolutions are much quicker and cheaper if you don't.
"Damages" are sometimes artificial constructs who's "value" is usually sent through the roof by the lawyers. In this case in particular, there was no "damage." Simply non-compliance with a software license.
As for "why should the accused NOT pay up?", I have heard Professor Moglen and members of the FSF (including licensing guru Brad Smith) speak on this topic many times. The FSF has limited resources. That's a fact. They always have, and they always will. They make a point to negotiate a great deal with an out-of-compliance entity before taking the next steps of filing any sort of suit, because, as you mention, "litigation in court costs".
The FSF licensing guys try very hard not to waste money in court rooms, but it seems in this case they couldn't convince the defendant by any other means.
In the end, what the FSF wants is a stronger community, and those who use GPL'ed software to comply with the license. They're not out to "punish" people or derive money from non-compliance, unless there are real, actual monetary damages, which hasn't happened yet.
In Ithaca New York we have what we call the "Ithaca Free Software Association," which is a computer user's group which is focused on promoting and supporting free software in general, rather than any particular operating system. We welcome anyone who wants to use free software, whether they run GNU/Linux, *BSD, Windows, or MacOS. Meeting face-to-face each month is a great way to meet new members, though most of our communication is done over the email list.
Meeting face-to-face is also how conduct our events in the local community. GNU/Linux installfests, "Vendor" booths at local technology events (we have three higher-ed institutions in the area, as well as numerous K-12 schools), as well as Software Freedom Day, and a few other events we stage each year.
So, essentially, we're a group of folks who like computers, software, etc. But we're also a community service organization, intent on helping people solve technological problems with free software. Whether that's someone's grandma, or a local school district.
I'd post the URL, but I don't want to break my Web server...:)
Is it just me, or do other people feel like gagging every time someone at Microsoft says something is "rich," has "richness," "rich user experience," etc.
It's like eating a whole stick of butter with mayonnaise to dip it in. MS "richness" can't be good for you.
whether the "IT sector is falling apart" or not, there will never be a time when there aren't Geek Squads or some similar, low-paid geeks. Want to keep stuff private? Don't put it unencrypted on a computer and then take said computer to some doodz making tree-fiddy an hour to install quicktime for you.
Want stuff private? Learn how to keep it private. Anyone who thinks "people should just behave!" is naive and will be taken advantage of.
I didn't make the world this way, I just live in it.
TFA says they took their entrapment box to "about a dozen" geek squads, and finally found one to do this, and then cry WOLF! I thought the Consumerist was a decent blog until this crap sensationalist story, which has now been picked up by freakin' slashdot (of course) who added the headline "Consumerist Catches Geek Squad Stealing Porn".
1. When running an entrapment scheme, a 1:12 ratio is hardly damning of the whole organization 2. Who cares? Was the entrapment author deprived of his pr0n? No, someone just got a copy. 3. If you have super secret pr0n or whatever on your computer, DON'T TAKE IT TO BEST BUY. Hire someone to come to your house so you can discuss your concerns and sit next to them while they do their thing.
Give me a break. Ethics?! How about journalistic ethics?
"because most large corporations are sick to death of the hoops they have to jump through for the GPL"
Who do you think was in the bi-weekly meetings with Eben Moglen et al. for the past 18 months working on the GPL drafts?
I refer you to part of a transcript from a recent speech that Moglen gave at the Scottish society for Computers and Law annual lecture for 2007:
Every other week for the past 18 months, we've convened a conference call of twenty-one of the largest IT vendors in the world. Those companies, whose names are household familiar in every household and business familiar in every business. Working in teams that varied from one person from some of the companies, to five or six in others. Carefully studying every single word, commenting as though their lives depended upon it - as in some of the businesses they did. On every detail of the license's functioning in the global IT economy. We also convened, every other week, a conversation among twenty-four of the largest users of software in the world. Banks and brokerages, government agencies, and the lawyers who acquire software on their behalf.
A petition is available for NYS residents to download and complete. It contains the address of assemblyperson Destito's office so it can be mailed directly there when it is completed.
You make good points... Perhaps "friends and enemies" is part of it. I still think the GPLv3 is moving in the "more free" rather than "less free" direction though. Dismantling the enemies methods of causing trouble will in the end make the Free Software movement more powerful, and although your Animal Farm analogy is accurate perhaps, I still trust the FSF, GNU, the SFLC and RMS more than any other big entity in the software arena.
The moment the FSF does something that hurts the users of Free Software, I'll give 'em hell.
business *is* on board. IBM, Nokia, Sun, and many others participated in the drafting of the GPLv3. They probably don't care much about the whole "freedom" aspect, but they find that Free Software is great for their bottom line.
My point is that the authors of the license care more about end-user freedom than about whether XYZ inc. will like the license or not. And that is as it should be.
All you fools pissing and moaning about the "evils" of RMS and the GPLv3 are free to simply use proprietary software. Microsoft makes tons of it that you will love.
The rest of us who recognize what the real issues are in the software industry will speed by you, and wave as we pass.
Free Software is the future. Proprietary software innovation is dead.
The goal of the GPL, the GNU project, and the FSF has always been software freedom, first and foremost. If a business finds no value in making changes to the way they do things to reap the benefits that Free Software brings, then they are free to not use any GPL'ed software. It's as simple as that.
That said, most of the big businesses currently interested in Free Software, including some which have HUGE patent stores, like IBM have actually participated in the drafting of the GPLv3.
I wrote an article about this on my site, complete with some shell scripts I use to determine playlist size and copy the playlist files to the SD card. I use XMMS as my music player and playlist manager.
http://ithacafreesoftware.org/forum/viewtopic.php? t=227
I use my Palm Tungsten T and a non-free player called pTunes and a 1GB SD Card to store my music. I love it because I use my PDA heavily still *and* it plays my music. I'd hate to have a separate music player that only did that one thing.
And since the music is stored as regular ol'.ogg files on the SD card, getting them on and off is easy with GNU/Linux.
grandparent: "far worse than anything RMS has done..."
You guys are nuts. I ask you, what evil has RMS done to the Free Software community?! Starting it in the first place? Seeing into the future of the software industry and writing the GPL to protect the community (1991) or doing it again in 2006-07? Ever ask yourself *why* he does what he does? I'll give you a hint. It's to keep Free Software Free.
parent: "Unless, of course, what he does is to split the OSS community"
RMS didn't split the OSS community, the "open-sourcers" split the Free Software community. So if you've got separation anxiety, blame Torvalds, Perens, and that whacko Raymond who may write good software, but don't have the desire or the ability to protect it. Name one OSI license that will help protect Free or "open-source" software as well as the GPL against the enemies of Free Software.
If it weren't for RMS, Moglen, the FSF, and now the Software Freedom Law Center, all you "open-source" folks would be working for Microsoft or some other proprietary software developer.
Open Source is dead, because it doesn't mean anything. Even Microsoft can make open source software.
You know, nobody is gonna force you to buy one, right?
Personally, I'm happy about this news because my employer buys all desktops and notebooks from Dell (since our Uni has special arrangements with Dell or something). I'm glad I'll be able to order my next office computer and tell them to get one with Ubuntu. (which I'll erase to install Debian Stable).
I'm not sure what your point is. If it's "Users don't care about what the problem is..." then you're right. But this, as you point out isn't something that effects only GNU/Linux systems. In fact I have many more clients using Windows who pay me lots of money to fix problems than with GNU/Linux. My GNU/Linux clients pay a bit more up front for my time in setting up and configuring their systems, but after that, they save a great deal of money because their system is much more stable than Windows.
As for your VCR analogy, I agree. If someone wants a computer to do a certain job, like composing and printing documents, then why in the hell would they need a full-featured Web/Email client with thousands of features installed? GNU/Linux is much more configurable in this respect than *any* other "desktop operating system." Use GNU/Linux, and you're clock will not blink 12:00, because it doesn't even need to have a clock display unless *you the user* want it to have one.
As far as people discarding computers and buying new ones whenever they get a virus, some people do that, and others don't. I have developed a small number of GNU/Linux using clients who are very happy with their systems. They wouldn't think of chucking them and buying another, because we've worked to get the systems to do exactly what they need them to do. Nothing more, nothing less.
In short, I'm rambling a bit. Users are not going to change much, but over the next couple of years, the computers they use are going to change quite a bit. May the most easy-to-use, stable, and competitive systems win.
Slashdot Mirror
Can anyone find details of the license this game is being released under? I can't, even in the SVN repos. I know the Quake II engine is GPL, but what about the rest of it?
I'm sorry, dear OP. I meant my donation comment for /. readers in general, not you specifically. We are both members of the organizations you mention.
Your first statement is correct. Money can change hands in disputes, but it certainly doesn't have to. Before lawyers and law school tuition were invented, lots of people settled disputes in various ways not involving money, lawyers and courts. Resolutions are much quicker and cheaper if you don't.
"Damages" are sometimes artificial constructs who's "value" is usually sent through the roof by the lawyers. In this case in particular, there was no "damage." Simply non-compliance with a software license.
As for "why should the accused NOT pay up?", I have heard Professor Moglen and members of the FSF (including licensing guru Brad Smith) speak on this topic many times. The FSF has limited resources. That's a fact. They always have, and they always will. They make a point to negotiate a great deal with an out-of-compliance entity before taking the next steps of filing any sort of suit, because, as you mention, "litigation in court costs".
The FSF licensing guys try very hard not to waste money in court rooms, but it seems in this case they couldn't convince the defendant by any other means.
In the end, what the FSF wants is a stronger community, and those who use GPL'ed software to comply with the license. They're not out to "punish" people or derive money from non-compliance, unless there are real, actual monetary damages, which hasn't happened yet.
There's a button on the SFLC Web site where you -- yes YOU -- could make a donation to promote the defense of Free and Open-Source Software.
In Ithaca New York we have what we call the "Ithaca Free Software Association," which is a computer user's group which is focused on promoting and supporting free software in general, rather than any particular operating system. We welcome anyone who wants to use free software, whether they run GNU/Linux, *BSD, Windows, or MacOS. Meeting face-to-face each month is a great way to meet new members, though most of our communication is done over the email list.
:)
Meeting face-to-face is also how conduct our events in the local community. GNU/Linux installfests, "Vendor" booths at local technology events (we have three higher-ed institutions in the area, as well as numerous K-12 schools), as well as Software Freedom Day, and a few other events we stage each year.
So, essentially, we're a group of folks who like computers, software, etc. But we're also a community service organization, intent on helping people solve technological problems with free software. Whether that's someone's grandma, or a local school district.
I'd post the URL, but I don't want to break my Web server...
Is it just me, or do other people feel like gagging every time someone at Microsoft says something is "rich," has "richness," "rich user experience," etc.
It's like eating a whole stick of butter with mayonnaise to dip it in. MS "richness" can't be good for you.
*hurls into the wastebasket*
whether the "IT sector is falling apart" or not, there will never be a time when there aren't Geek Squads or some similar, low-paid geeks. Want to keep stuff private? Don't put it unencrypted on a computer and then take said computer to some doodz making tree-fiddy an hour to install quicktime for you.
Want stuff private? Learn how to keep it private. Anyone who thinks "people should just behave!" is naive and will be taken advantage of.
I didn't make the world this way, I just live in it.
copying someone's pr0n and stealing their credit card is not even in the same order of magnitude...
TFA says they took their entrapment box to "about a dozen" geek squads, and finally found one to do this, and then cry WOLF! I thought the Consumerist was a decent blog until this crap sensationalist story, which has now been picked up by freakin' slashdot (of course) who added the headline "Consumerist Catches Geek Squad Stealing Porn".
1. When running an entrapment scheme, a 1:12 ratio is hardly damning of the whole organization
2. Who cares? Was the entrapment author deprived of his pr0n? No, someone just got a copy.
3. If you have super secret pr0n or whatever on your computer, DON'T TAKE IT TO BEST BUY. Hire someone to come to your house so you can discuss your concerns and sit next to them while they do their thing.
Give me a break. Ethics?! How about journalistic ethics?
Shame on the Consumerist and shame on Slashdot.
"because most large corporations are sick to death of the hoops they have to jump through for the GPL"
Who do you think was in the bi-weekly meetings with Eben Moglen et al. for the past 18 months working on the GPL drafts?
I refer you to part of a transcript from a recent speech that Moglen gave at the Scottish society for Computers and Law annual lecture for 2007:
http://ia301337.us.archive.org/1/items/EbenMoglenDowngrade from Vista to XP? Naw, Upgrade to Ubuntu.
Free Software means never having to tell anyone what you want to run on your computers...
A petition is available for NYS residents to download and complete. It contains the address of assemblyperson Destito's office so it can be mailed directly there when it is completed.
t ion.pdf
http://ithacafreesoftware.org/images/nys_odf_peti
You make good points... Perhaps "friends and enemies" is part of it. I still think the GPLv3 is moving in the "more free" rather than "less free" direction though. Dismantling the enemies methods of causing trouble will in the end make the Free Software movement more powerful, and although your Animal Farm analogy is accurate perhaps, I still trust the FSF, GNU, the SFLC and RMS more than any other big entity in the software arena.
The moment the FSF does something that hurts the users of Free Software, I'll give 'em hell.
BSD isn't using any GNU tools these days?
business *is* on board. IBM, Nokia, Sun, and many others participated in the drafting of the GPLv3. They probably don't care much about the whole "freedom" aspect, but they find that Free Software is great for their bottom line.
My point is that the authors of the license care more about end-user freedom than about whether XYZ inc. will like the license or not. And that is as it should be.
All you fools pissing and moaning about the "evils" of RMS and the GPLv3 are free to simply use proprietary software. Microsoft makes tons of it that you will love.
The rest of us who recognize what the real issues are in the software industry will speed by you, and wave as we pass.
Free Software is the future. Proprietary software innovation is dead.
The goal of the GPL, the GNU project, and the FSF has always been software freedom, first and foremost. If a business finds no value in making changes to the way they do things to reap the benefits that Free Software brings, then they are free to not use any GPL'ed software. It's as simple as that.
That said, most of the big businesses currently interested in Free Software, including some which have HUGE patent stores, like IBM have actually participated in the drafting of the GPLv3.
I use a USB SD card reader/writer.
I wrote an article about this on my site, complete with some shell scripts I use to determine playlist size and copy the playlist files to the SD card. I use XMMS as my music player and playlist manager. http://ithacafreesoftware.org/forum/viewtopic.php? t=227
I use my Palm Tungsten T and a non-free player called pTunes and a 1GB SD Card to store my music. I love it because I use my PDA heavily still *and* it plays my music. I'd hate to have a separate music player that only did that one thing.
.ogg files on the SD card, getting them on and off is easy with GNU/Linux.
And since the music is stored as regular ol'
"if you don't care, why bother reading/commenting on the story?"
Your assumption that I've read the story is contrary to all that is slashdot.
Update: XBMC decides to stop the port and says "screw Linux" after their Web server was reduced to a molten puddle by being slashdotted.
"Take everything you read about these events with a grain of salt."
I'll do one better and just not care at all.
grandparent: "far worse than anything RMS has done..."
You guys are nuts. I ask you, what evil has RMS done to the Free Software community?! Starting it in the first place? Seeing into the future of the software industry and writing the GPL to protect the community (1991) or doing it again in 2006-07? Ever ask yourself *why* he does what he does? I'll give you a hint. It's to keep Free Software Free.
parent: "Unless, of course, what he does is to split the OSS community"
RMS didn't split the OSS community, the "open-sourcers" split the Free Software community. So if you've got separation anxiety, blame Torvalds, Perens, and that whacko Raymond who may write good software, but don't have the desire or the ability to protect it. Name one OSI license that will help protect Free or "open-source" software as well as the GPL against the enemies of Free Software.
If it weren't for RMS, Moglen, the FSF, and now the Software Freedom Law Center, all you "open-source" folks would be working for Microsoft or some other proprietary software developer.
Open Source is dead, because it doesn't mean anything. Even Microsoft can make open source software.
You know, nobody is gonna force you to buy one, right?
Personally, I'm happy about this news because my employer buys all desktops and notebooks from Dell (since our Uni has special arrangements with Dell or something). I'm glad I'll be able to order my next office computer and tell them to get one with Ubuntu. (which I'll erase to install Debian Stable).
I have an older Inspiron 6000 running Debian, and it works great. Wireless, modem, and all.
I'm not sure what your point is. If it's "Users don't care about what the problem is..." then you're right. But this, as you point out isn't something that effects only GNU/Linux systems. In fact I have many more clients using Windows who pay me lots of money to fix problems than with GNU/Linux. My GNU/Linux clients pay a bit more up front for my time in setting up and configuring their systems, but after that, they save a great deal of money because their system is much more stable than Windows.
As for your VCR analogy, I agree. If someone wants a computer to do a certain job, like composing and printing documents, then why in the hell would they need a full-featured Web/Email client with thousands of features installed? GNU/Linux is much more configurable in this respect than *any* other "desktop operating system." Use GNU/Linux, and you're clock will not blink 12:00, because it doesn't even need to have a clock display unless *you the user* want it to have one.
As far as people discarding computers and buying new ones whenever they get a virus, some people do that, and others don't. I have developed a small number of GNU/Linux using clients who are very happy with their systems. They wouldn't think of chucking them and buying another, because we've worked to get the systems to do exactly what they need them to do. Nothing more, nothing less.
In short, I'm rambling a bit. Users are not going to change much, but over the next couple of years, the computers they use are going to change quite a bit. May the most easy-to-use, stable, and competitive systems win.