Re: [LAD] Aeolus

On Wed, 18 Sep 2013 14:29:02 -0700
"J. Liles" <malnourite@email-addr-hidden> wrote:

> On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 2:16 PM, Fons Adriaensen <fons@email-addr-hiddenwrote:
>
> > Hello all,
> >
> > It has come to my attention that there are ATM at least two
> > 'forks' of Aeolus. The first by the MuseScore team, the second
> > by one Maurizio Gavioli.
> >
> > Neither of them even had the decency to let me know of their
> > work, and both are taking Aeolus in a direction I do not
> > approve of. Gavioli has even added his 'copyright' to the
> > sources of the libraries that Aeolus depends on but which
> > are not part of its source distribution. Apparently the
> > intention is to release incompatible versions of those as
> > well.
> >
> > If this is typical for the attitude taken by the Linux Audio
> > community then my motivation to contribute to it will take
> > a serious blow.
> >
> > As announced previously, there will be a fully reworked
> > release of Aeolus next year (on the occasion of its 10th
> > birthday). Apart from major improvements to the audio code
> > it will be completely OSC controlled. None of this will be
> > compatible with the forks of course, they'll find themselves
> > instantly obsolete. And I will make sure that this sort of
> > thing won't happen again, even if that means a more restrictive
> > license.
> >
> > Ciao,
> >
> >
> Respectfully, you granted people the right to fork your code in the first
> place. Now you say you might take this right away, but why? How has it
> harmed you or anyone else? Why should you have been notified that a fork
> took place? The whole point of free software is that people can adapt it to
> their needs and share their changes with those with similar needs. If those
> forks are better suited to the task at hand than your original code, then
> people may well use them (and that's a good thing!). If your new release is
> better, people may well use that. Isn't that the point? To help people?
> Plus, if the forks did/do make any improvements that you value, hey, that's
> great merge them, not that I think you'd ever do that ;-)
>
> We can't all be all things to everybody all the time. The value of your
> projects isn't necessarily in the complete package with your name on it. If
> someone takes your engine and slaps a new interface on it that people like
> better, well, they still use your engine, right? It's hard to put your ego
> aside sometimes, but I really recommend that you do. You've contributed a
> lot to Linux Audio and I'd hate to see that ruined by bruised egos and
> non-free licenses.

This is not about ego, it is about politness are recognition. A part of the motivation of creating open source software of any kind is creating a "brand name" from your name. Because there is no other positive feedback then happy users and the usage of your software. Other commercial things like getting paid, a pat on the back from your boss, some magazine prizes or whatever usually don't happen.

And of course forks are an important part of the open source culture and there are many reasons to create a fork. But if you do it be polite and nice and notify the original author so she or he (in this case fons) can port back interesting or good changes. Especially in a scene and community like Linux Audio where it is actually possible to know most of the persons names and projects by name.
I don't think that is too much to ask for.

I look forward to the new Aeolus version. Thank you, please keep up the good work Fons. Many people (I know personally) use your software and are very statisfied. Me included.

Nils
http://www.laborejo.org
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Received on Thu Sep 19 12:15:02 2013