Re: [LAD] Aeolus

What, my way or the djb way?

On 9/19/13, Nils Gey <ich@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
> 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
> _______________________________________________
> Linux-audio-dev mailing list
> Linux-audio-dev@email-addr-hidden
> http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-dev
>
_______________________________________________
Linux-audio-dev mailing list
Linux-audio-dev@email-addr-hidden
http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-dev
Received on Thu Sep 19 12:15:03 2013