Re: [GNU-linux-libre] MAME emulator is giving incentive to use non-free

From:

Leo

Subject:

Re: [GNU-linux-libre] MAME emulator is giving incentive to use non-free software

Date:

Fri, 1 Apr 2016 16:46:05 -0500

On Fri, Apr 1, 2016 at 4:31 PM, Jean Louis <address@hidden> wrote:

Hello Leo,

On Fri, Apr 01, 2016 at 03:17:06PM -0500, Leo wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 1, 2016 at 8:51 AM, Ivan Zaigralin <address@hidden>
> wrote:
>
> > The point of emulators like this one is to preserve software history.
> > Yes, it emulates non-free software. No, it's no longer relevant. I mean,
> > it's no longer relevant as software, but only as the historical record
> > of what entertainment software was like in the times of yore. New
> > nonfree games are being written today in order to seduce people, so I
> > can see why something like wine is dangerous, but no one, no one will
> > get seduced by a museum piece. MAME does not give any incentive to use
> > non-free software, because all of this old software is obsolete and
> > useless. But it does give an ability to study it from the historical
> > perspective, which is a good thing.
> >
>
> I disagree with all this. My brother-in-law built an arcade-like cabinet
> and put MAME in it. He plays these games and invites his friends to play
> these games with him. A coworker is working on the same thing. They are not
> exactly obsolete if they still provide entertainment. That's like saying
> that Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is obsolete because now we have
> romantic comedies in 3D.
>
> That being said, I'm still not sure what to think of MAME, but I personally
> see it in the same level as WINE.

Please ask him if he had to load the BIOS and blobs as required:
http://docs.mamedev.org/basicuse/commonissues.html?highlight=bios
http://docs.mamedev.org/basicuse/gettingstarted.html#bios-dumps-and-software

Basically, he uses non-free software, and I don't know how it relates to
free-software demand.

Jean Louis

Yes, he does use nonfree software and he doesn't care about free software one bit. My point is not that. My point is that the ROMs for games can provide an incentive to use non-free software and the games are not obsolete nor useless.