[crossfire] Crossfire+/Crossfire2 Versioning and Metaserver

[Anton Oussik]

On 14/04/07, Yann Chachkoff <yann.chachkoff at myrealbox.com> wrote:
> >Then again someone could also make a new tileset and their own maps,
> >and say "do not redistribute" whilst running them on their own server,
> >for which they could charge money. I am not sure there is anything GPL
> >can do about that.
>
> However, I think that any new content material (maps, graphics) should be freely redistributable as part of the Crossfire project. A server that refuses to share its content with the rest of the community should not be allowed to stay in the metaserver listing, IMHO, because it goes against the spirit of freedom that drives the project.

That is a good theory, but is quite impossible to enforce in practice,
for several reasons:
A) There is no way the metaserver can reliably determine the license
of all the content that is on a particular server.
B) There is no way a human can reliably determine the license of all
the content that is on a particular server.

Say, I run my own server. I make a change to the source allowing all
characters of level 115 to become DMs (a silly change, but then I am
not too bright). I also make a series of new maps avaliable for them,
to play as DM quests, i.e. things that need DM powers to complete, but
are designed to be challenging even to someone who has DM powers.

I do not release the code changes. I do not release the new content.
Since I run the server myself, and do not distribute it, I am not
required to provide the source code for my change. Since the maps I
have made are not derived work, I can license them however I like.

Hence, I am able to run a CF derivative without needing to disclose
any of my source or the content. However, until you have a character
that reaches level 115 and becomes DM, there is no effective way of
telling that my server even contains "closed" content, and so the
metaserver can not be expected to handle an issue like this.