> How much monetary value has Linus Torvalds given the world? An operating
> system is so valuable that one of the world's richest companies made its
> fortune selling one. Yet Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman gave theirs
> away for free, and most of the talk in the RPG community is about keeping
> work closed while making use of open material. Maybe I'm wrong to compare
> software and roleplaying, but to watch programmers give away millions
> while RPGers fret over pennies is hard to view charitably.
If you want to compare them, you have to carry the analogy further.
Linux is open source. But does that mean that if I write a novel in a word
processor on a Pentium box running Linux, that I have to (or ought to) open
it to the public domain, and not get money from, say, a movie that someone
bases on it?
Consider, too, that unlike trademarks, copyrights are not taken away by not
being upheld. For example, if a bunch of web sites publish further
adventures in the Deeps (where THREE DAYS TO KILL takes place), publish
better and more detailed maps based on the Campaign Cartographer 2 files
available on our website, and so forth, we're not likely to get upset;
however, if someone intends to publish for profit, or do a made-for-TV movie
based on John Tynes' story, then we *would* be upset.
Consider, by analogy, media fan fiction, like Star Trek stories you can find
on newsgroups and around the web, or in APAs. As fan efforts, these aren't
really a problem; but go and start publishing and marketing your own new
series of Star Trek novels without authorization from Paramount, and you'll
be in a world of hurt.
------------------------------------------------------
John Nephew voice (651) 638-0077 fax (651) 638-0084
President, Atlas Games www.atlas-games.com
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
