Re: [LUG] GLUG - free and non-free

[Tony Atkin <tone_pl@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Monday 11 Oct 2004 14:23, Neil Williams wrote:
> On Monday 11 October 2004 1:28 pm, Martin Howitt wrote:
> > Take games for example. There are plenty of (relatively small) GPL games
> > out there, but to bring this conversation back to where we started, there
> > are AFAIK no GPL games on the scale of Doom, because the resources and
> > management required to bring a game of that level of complexity out cost
> > a lot of money which couldn't be recouped if a GPL licence was used.
> <snip>
> > There is a simple reason why games are not keeping up:
>
> Hardware lock-in.
>
> The 'advanced' 3D features of most graphics cards have been locked away
> under EULA and NDA for years now

Agreed! I can't fault either of the above statements, but I think there is 
something else going on here and it's to do with what makes free software 
developers tick.

Games are a lot like music.  You buy it and if you like it you play it a lot 
for a few weeks or months and after that maybe only occasionally and then not 
at all.  The creators put a lot of time and effort into it and more often 
than not it turns out to be a flop.  A good utility is a different matter.  I 
could use (say) GNUCash every day for the next 20 years and still not get 
bored with it, because it is a tool, helping me to do something which I need 
to do.  So I have to say to myself, which would I rather be involved in, a 
game which just might be big for a year or two, or a tool which can be a help 
to people all over the world for many years to come.  No contest really.

Tony

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