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Licensing issues
05-19-2008, 04:49 AM,
#31
 
I was wondering if it were possible to do a special Vdrift package with only 100% free stuff.
Non free materials could also be a sort of plugin.
This package could be then included in 100% free distributions like Debian, and websites like our.
In any way, I'll check the packages you speak about, and if they are free as you suppose, I'll add the more recent and free version of VDrift to our website.
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05-19-2008, 05:37 AM,
#32
 
mym Wrote:I was wondering if it were possible to do a special Vdrift package with only 100% free stuff.

That was the idea behind those recent releases I mentioned.
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05-19-2008, 06:03 AM,
#33
 
Sorry, I missed that.
The about.txt file of the Estoril track says:
Quote:Estoril '88
Original track for rFactor by carrera.4
Converted with permission.
I'm not really confident with the "Converted with permission" message.
If converting the track requires a permission, does using/sharing/studying/modifying the converted track requires something to do ?
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05-19-2008, 10:27 AM,
#34
 
The "converted with permission" message indicates that the artist released the data for use in VDrift and distribution with VDrift. So I think that covers the using/sharing/studying part. Unfortunately there's nothing specific about modifying, however I think you're probably on solid ground if you were to do so (I think you could argue an implied license)... but I'm not a lawyer.

Here's a question for you:
Does data licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license meet your criteria?
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05-19-2008, 11:19 AM,
#35
 
Quote:however I think you're probably on solid ground if you were to do so (I think you could argue an implied license)...
Indeed we need an explicit license to each part of the game in order to decide if we can accept it on our website.

Quote:Does data licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license meet your criteria?
Regarding whether it is a Free Software or not, I'm relying on the FSF and for the commercial issue, here is what they say:
Quote:``Free software'' does not mean ``non-commercial''. A free program must be available for commercial use, commercial development, and commercial distribution. Commercial development of free software is no longer unusual; such free commercial software is very important.
Thus, the "non-commercial" clause prevent the software to be a Free Software.
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05-19-2008, 02:23 PM,
#36
 
mym Wrote:Sorry, I missed that.
The about.txt file of the Estoril track says:
Quote:Estoril '88
Original track for rFactor by carrera.4
Converted with permission.
I'm not really confident with the "Converted with permission" message.
If converting the track requires a permission, does using/sharing/studying/modifying the converted track requires something to do ?
"Converted with permission" means that i asked the original author for permission to convert the track to vdrift before including it in the data package.

if you really want to do something useful contact the upstream author (in this case, estoril that is, carrera.4) on racesimcentral forum http://forum.rscnet.org (look him up in the members list) and ask him nicely if he is willing (and/or able) to release the track under some free licence.

at the same time you also have the freedom to create a track from scratch and release it under a free licence with vdrift could then package. but that's a lot harder than just talking about software freedom....

--alex--
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05-20-2008, 10:14 AM,
#37
 
OK, so I think the verdict is that the source code (the actual VDrift application) meets your definition of free software, but the data package does not, although it is free to use (but not Free to use, right?). :-)
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05-20-2008, 10:36 AM,
#38
 
Quote:if you really want to do something useful contact the upstream author (in this case, estoril that is, carrera.4) on racesimcentral forum http://forum.rscnet.org (look him up in the members list) and ask him nicely if he is willing (and/or able) to release the track under some free licence.
Indeed this may be the best solution to try to get a 100% Free version of Vdrift, without having to design new car models and tracks.

Quote:at the same time you also have the freedom to create a track from scratch and release it under a free licence with vdrift could then package. but that's a lot harder than just talking about software freedom....
Of course it is.
However as content designers are in general not really aware of Free license advantages, discussion may help things evolving.
That's what I'm trying to do, and I'm really sorry if my words can be understood as criticism, this is not my intend at all.

I see there are 6 car models and 3 tracks, thus several authors to contact.
I'll see what I can do.

Quote:OK, so I think the verdict is that the source code (the actual VDrift application) meets your definition of free software, but the data package does not, although it is free to use (just not Free to use, right?). Smile
I agree.
Nevertheless, I think data are close to be Free.
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