Originally posted by Alkarion I don't get it, man. Why are emotions always heating up when the talk is about abandonware.
For crying out loud, Alkarion...you wonder why things heat up and then you stir things up again.
As runderwo and canadacow have already stated, this isn't the same kind of thing...
For crying out loud, Alkarion...you wonder why things heat up and then you stir things up again.
...Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
As runderwo and canadacow have already stated, this isn't the same kind of thing...
Well, that depends on the level of detail with which you examine the issue. If you zoom out a bit, you notice that in both cases big companies are trying to protect the copyright on products they cannot earn significant amounts of money (or nothing at all) from. I don't want to start all over with this again, so perhaps we can agree on the following. Copyright in general is a good thing, especially when it protects the products of independent authors who cannot afford a horde of lawyers. But, big companies certainly also abuse the current copyright laws. I recall Apple trying to copyright the concept of a desktop-theme. What's next? Copyright on progress bars for file transfers?
Originally posted by Alkarion Well, that depends on the level of detail with which you examine the issue. If you zoom out a bit, you notice that in both cases big companies are trying to protect the copyright on products they cannot earn significant amounts of money (or nothing at all) from.
Understood, but honestly if we're going to continue this discussion (copyright, that is...not the MT32 emulation) we need to move it to Millyways.
Well, that depends on the level of detail with which you examine the issue. If you zoom out a bit, you notice that in both cases big companies are trying to protect the copyright on products they cannot earn significant amounts of money (or nothing at all) from.
Actually, I was referring to about the license of DosBox in my previous posts (and so was ih8registrationt), not the MT-32 ROMs or abandonware in general. I only brought up the abandonware aspect to show how DosBox license is different from abandonware. As for the license of the MT-32 ROMs, there is little question that they are in the public domain. The only question is, who's going to stand up to Roland about it? So far, it looks like canadacow is mostly on his own.
wrote:I don't know about pissed, leery is what I would say. Part of the skepticism has been from you saying it's too much work to release the code when the dosbox source was two files.
The MT32 source is no longer comprised of 2 files but now about 34 files (this includes the source code for compatibility with both DosBox and the Windows driver). Most importantly, I'm rather tired of people saying "its out of tune", so my most recent efforts have been spent working to get the tuning right once and for all.
The MT32 source is no longer comprised of 2 files but now about 34 files (this includes the source code for compatibility with both DosBox and the Windows driver).
Sooo... that means it's (34 / 2 = ) .... no less than 17 times as good as before! Right?
canadacow, I'm going to have to go with ih8registrations on this one. You NEED to RELEASE the SOURCE with every new update.
Yes, it’s my fault.
wrote:canadacow, I'm going to have to go with ih8registrations on this one. You NEED to RELEASE the SOURCE with every new update.
I don't consider the last post a new update. It was just a "here's what I'm working on, have my optimizations done any good?" The next update will include:
Almost exact tuning as I can get it
Freeverb (a really great reverb implementation)
That "bright" MT-32 sound that's eluded me all this time
I'm not sure how long this will take but I'm really working to make my next release a really good one.
Canadacow could just go back to making it just a Windows driver and develop the DOSbox version in parallel without releasing it to the general public. That way he's not obligated to release any source code, and I get to actually use it with games 😉
Seriously though, if anyone really, truly wants canadacow to release the source, then just say "canadacow, please release the source". If you do that, then he's legally obligated to release his source for the DOSbox version of the emulator due to DOSbox's GPL license. But if you don't really, truly, honestly, sincerely intend to make use of the source at this point then please stop harassing him!
I do agree that releasing source code is a good thing though. If canadacow has to stop working on the emulator for some reason then someone else can come in and pick up where he left off - but only if they have something to work with.
wrote:Seriously though, if anyone really, truly wants canadacow to release the source, then just say "canadacow, please release the source". If you do that, then he's legally obligated to release his source for the DOSbox version of the emulator due to DOSbox's GPL license. But if you don't really, truly, honestly, sincerely intend to make use of the source at this point then please stop harassing him!
IIRC, he could also just decide to pull the dosbox binary. I wouldn't want to see that happen.
While it would be nice to have the very latest version available in source form, I'd much prefer canadacow works on this project in whatever way he is most comfortable, and if that means holding off on releasing the source for a while, fine by me!
Hopefully he'll release the source eventually, but at the moment maybe he doesn't want to besmirch his good name with a god-awful piece of junk that hasn't been cleaned up properly 😀.
Anyway, let the man get back to work, that's what we're paying him...I mean, not paying him...for 😀.
As far as I know, CANADACOW *NEVER EVER* thought about not releasing sources. So it has been always clear that sources will be available.
But there are people around here for whom it is just not enough. Recently CANADACOW released a binary for testing (alpha version, just a snapshot of his work - as a programmer I can imagine how code can look during big reworking). He promised another one for today. Now it looks like he will release it only when it is finished. 🙁 No wonder, because any released binary would probably led to another outcry of some people on this board... This is the result of their effort.
There was a time when CANADACOW did not want to do the DOSBOX integration at all !!! Then he decided differently (I was one of people who argued for DOSBOX on this board - see thread "DOSBOX and MT-32 question").
It is just sad that some people around here are making their best (or rather worst) trying to persuade him otherwise. This is beyond my understanding.
Mirek
Regarding the previous two reports, I would have to wholeheartedly agree. While the optimizations are complete, I'm having trouble integrating them with the driver. The current code makes the driver unstable and is therefore unusable. I've got to track down the memory leak before I post a new driver and source. Anyway, I haven't dropped the project, I've just been busy and I, like the previous posts allude to, do not want to release a mess of code.
canadacow needs to add a Paypal link on the project page. 😁
