From: Kal Lin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
From: Brad Thompson
>>The definition of 'complete source' is at the heart of my
>>opposition to the
From: Kal Lin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>I understand your opposition to releasing the source code
>to your efforts...
>I believe the fundamental question is "should we require
>software producers to contribute some of their effort
>because they used OGL content?" I have already pointed out
>that print producers are not required to contribute to the
>community for using OGL content.
But they *are* required to contribute; they contribute any OGL work they
produce.
From: Kal Lin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>That is what I understood you were suggesting. I do not see
>how giving the original author a copy of the original material
>helps the author with respect to some software "hiding" his/her
>OGL content. I also do not see how this feeds anything back to
>the joint development effort which was why Ryan introduced the
>proposal in the first place.
Assumption:
A software developer develops software based on OGL material. The OGL does
not address software issues.
Possible Result:
All OGL material is buried in closed software source, and is therefore not
available to the OGL community.
Problem:
This does not contribute to the OGL community.
Solution:
Amend the OGL to require a human-readable version of all OGL work the
software is based on.
Benefits:
Allows software developers to produce software they maintain control of
while still benefiting the OGL community through open OGL modifications.
Example:
Let's say you produce a MUD engine that uses the d20SRD as its base with no
modifications. In this case you would produce a document containing just
the d20SRD, since that is the entirety of the OGL work you used. If you had
used the d20SRD and added a new class, then you would produce a document
that contained the d20SRD as well as a write-up of the new class.
Notes:
I'm not sure that this is what Brad is proposing, though this is what I read
into his proposal. Regardless, I think this satisfies the spirit of the OGL
while still allowing software developers control of their code.
Comments? Requests for clarification?
Walter
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