Open Source, GPL FPS game coming to game consoles... - by lost_soul
lost_soul on 24/3/2010 at 19:08
(
http://timedoctor.org/2010/03/forest-hale-interview-about-nexuiz-and-open-source/)
Why couldn't they just sell the original open source version, built to run on the console without modifying it? They can include the source code on the game disk for the buyer.
Sure, the buyer can't modify the code and then run the game on the console, but that's their own fault for buying hardware that they don't control. Also, why would anyone pay for an inferior version of the game, when the PC one is free and can run hundreds of user maps and other mods?
Phatose on 24/3/2010 at 21:04
He tells you flat out they legally couldn't. The GPL is aggressively viral, and getting the thing to run on the console likely required proprietary libraries and code to function - lets be blunt, Microsoft and Sony ain't gonna give out the source code to their interface libraries without some control. If it's GPL and not LGPL, then even linking to those libraries would require they have source code distributed along with the app if you want to distribute. That ain't gonna happen.
When they tried to see about a license change, people in the chain objected, so they had to recreate from scratch.
As for why they'd want to pay - well, maybe they don't have gaming pcs, or the knowledge to even get it running, let alone manage to deal with actual technical problems that might pop up, especially with no definitive support.
Nameless Voice on 24/3/2010 at 22:09
Quote:
A lot has changed on the engine side since Nexuiz started, but some of the art never advanced in the GPL Nexuiz (
for example the player models are still the original ones from 2005!), it’s good to see professional artists making better use of the technology in the console Nexuiz.
I never would have guessed.
