Re: [GNU-linux-libre] Adding some scummvm game(s) to the "List of software that does not respect the Free System Distribution Guidelines"

[bill-auger]

On Wed, 14 Jun 2023 22:30:48 -0400 John wrote:
> I was answering bill's claims about how
> many people are still interested in it.

i understood you - i would just add that 2009 was almost 15 years ago - in gamer
years, that is 3 aeons ago - the underlying technology is 10 aeons old - i
trust that most readers of this list do not have such a myopic view of
software; but gamer culture does

but that is not the reason why i am so inclined to dismiss these games and the
engine - it is because to me, _no_ games are important enough to deserve such
fuss - they are purely for entertainment; so they are inherently low priority
- from that perspective, we may as well be discussing how many "lady gaga"
videos we can distribute - answer: "i dont care - we have bigger fish to fry
today" - "zero" is as good as any other amount - lets just decide, then move on
with due haste

my dismissiveness is not absolute, only a matter of priorities - the
desirability/workload ratio of each game is typically very low - in my
experience auditing software licensing, games are time-bandits

in only one instance, was i successful to convince the upstream to clarify the
licensing - unfortunately, he had forgotten where he got most of the images
from; so that never actually happened - he promised to accept submissions, if
someone wanted to replace all of the images; but stated that he was not likely
to do anything more

that one was a relatively _positive_ experience - game authors/maintainers are
typically dismissive of licensing deficiencies, out-of-hand; and some readily
become indignant and/or obscene - in another instance, the bug report was closed
within 15 minutes, with a single remark from a maintainer: "F--- You!" (my
dashes) - that was not an obscure game either - it is one of the most popular
libre games

in another instance, the author refused to clarify the license, because he was
convinced that the game's mere existence, put it automatically and implicitly
under the same license as the game engine that it runs on - as proof, he
directed me to the game engine's wiki, where the game's release was originally
announced - those release notes had no mention of any license, nor did the
source code; but in the authors mind, that announcement itself, because it was
on that wiki, was sufficient licensing for the game files

the liberation prospects are even worse for decades old games - for those, it
is likely impossible to contact the authors - i have come to conclusion, that it
is unwise to spend any significant amount of time on any games, given the
average success rate and time consumed