Re: Wesnoth Apple App Store GPL violation?

On Sat, 10 Jul 2010 03:36:35 pm David White wrote:
> Unlike the GNU Go release on the app store, which was not endorsed by the
> maintainers of GNU Go, Wesnoth on the app store has been developed with the
> endorsement of myself and the active Wesnoth development community.
> 
> We believed at the time that development began -- and still believe today --
> that we are acting within the GPL given the following factors:
> 
>  - The full source code is released and available.
>  - It is entirely permissible for anyone to compile the game from source and
> distribute it using their own distribution mechanism to people with an
> iPhone device. There may be some barriers to distribution but these barriers
> are entirely technical due to the "walled garden" nature of the iPhone.

I want recipients of my software to receive all the benefits that I have
received.  I want them to be able to mod, share and experiment with the
software, and this is reflected in my preference for the GPL.

It's not really relevant *how* people are prevented from doing so, except
to the questions "Does it matter?" and "Can I do anything to prevent it?".

So, does it matter?  As a software developer, a machine on which the owner
cannot choose what software to create and run is anathema.  As a free
software developer, a machine which restricts free software is particularly
disturbing.

> It should be noted that release of Wesnoth on the app store has had some
> significant benefits both for the Wesnoth community and for FLOSS gaming as
> a whole:
> 
>  - Wesnoth has obtained significant revenue streams which have been used to
> fund the development of art and other content in areas in which Wesnoth
> needs improvement to compete with commercial offerings.

I honestly didn't realize you needed money.  There's no donate button on
wesnoth.org that I could find, for example :(

>  - FLOSS gaming has been exposed to a significant audience which might be
> otherwise unaware of it.

I browsed the page on the Apple website.  People think it's a great game
for $5.  I don't see any exposure to "floss gaming".  Can you back your
statement up?

>  - Other FLOSS games are now also interested in distribution on the same
> platorm.

Strengthening this platform seems self-defeating to me.  There are other
platforms which don't have this restriction; is there a convenient way to
distribute apps for jailbroken iPhones for example?

But so far you've convinced me that this is a violation that matters.

It's not going to take you that long to rewrite any code I have in-tree (see
the SVN logs).  I suggest you should also make your licensing exception clear
in the tree, and try to contact developers to see if they agree.

Rusty.