Matt Chat - Kickstarting Free Software

[Myrthos]

On his blog, Matt Burton discusses free software and game development and if an open source game can be kickstarted.

First, a bit of history. As some long-time followers know, I used to be something of a cheerleader for the free software movement, doing cover features for Free Software Magazine and writing articles on it for Armchair Arcade. At the time, I was convinced that GNU/Linux was the future I wanted to fight for, and that anything other than 100% free software was unethical. To put it short, I had drunk the Kool-Aid.

My views started to shift partly in response to an email exchange I had with FSF founder Richard Stallman. Stallman told me that even he didn’t think games ought to be free; just their code. Creative assets (music, graphics, etc.) could and should still be protected. The impression I got was that his fight for free software didn’t include entertainment; just utilities, instructional material, or other “useful” wares.

These views shifted further when I began learning more about how real-life game development worked. In particular, I learned that most games aren’t written from scratch; rather, they rely heavily on proprietary packages, libraries, or entire engines they license. In short, they aren’t in a legal position to make their code free. Arguably, you could insist that developers avoid doing so, but that seems to be imposing an unfair burden on them in my opinion.

More information.

 

[forgottenlor]

We don't live in an ideal world and most people don't work for free. You can create a game as a hobby, but most people don't create software engines in their free time because they enjoy doing it. Creating a game is a chore even if you have a cheap engine. It takes a year or two of full time work plus overtime. Matt is an idealist, and I don't see even his modified ideas ever becoming mainstream reality.

 

[rjshae]

Possibly they could Kickstart a project to open source the code and assets for an older game (assuming the license owner is willing) with the goal of making an HD version. How about Arcanum or Betrayal At Krondor?