FSDG issues of SCUMMVM-based games

FSDG issues of SCUMMVM-based games

[Liliana Marie Prikler]

Hi Guix,

The packages
- drascula,
- lure,
- queen, and
- sky
all share issues that make me question whether they should be in Guix.

1. Their license explicitly prohibits selling of the games themselves
and may thus be qualified as non-free.
2. The "sources" consist of binaries that are installed as-is.

Given the above, I think we ought not distribute them.  Note that this
is not a statement on SCUMMVM itself, but only the packages built with
it.

WDYT?

Re: FSDG issues of SCUMMVM-based games

[Tobias Geerinckx-Rice]

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Hi Liliana,

Liliana Marie Prikler 写道：
> The packages
> - drascula,

[…]

> 1. Their license explicitly prohibits selling of the games 
> themselves
> and may thus be qualified as non-free.

Yep, it's pretty explicit, and I agree that it's an unreasonable 
restriction that makes the software non-free.

> 2. The "sources" consist of binaries that are installed as-is.

Wow, you weren't kidding.  Of the 1145(!) or 63 MiB(!) of files, 
literally not one is source code.

At best, the archive contains 3 ‘text’ files: one with only 
numbers, one with only asterisks, and one with only blank lines.

> - lure,
> - queen, and
> - sky

I didn't check these, but I believe you if you say they're just as 
bad.

I see no way to keep these in Guix.

Thanks!

T G-R

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Re: FSDG issues of SCUMMVM-based games

[Tobias Geerinckx-Rice]

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I've sent an e-mail to the FSF licencing department asking for 
their guidance on the matter.  I erred on the side of netiquette 
caution and didn't CC this list.

Either the inclusion of [a subset of] Drascula in Trisquel[0] is a 
similar oversight, or we're missing some legal subtlety.

I'm hoping for the latter, as I'd hate to see old art become less 
accessible.

Kind regards,

T G-R

[0]: https://packages.trisquel.info/hu/nabia/all/drascula/filelist

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Re: FSDG issues of SCUMMVM-based games

[Maxime Devos]

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On 06-08-2022 06:59, Liliana Marie Prikler wrote:

> 2. The "sources" consist of binaries that are installed as-is.

The credits of ScummVM state that the source code is available for 
Drascula[0]

[0] https://docs.scummvm.org/en/latest/help/credits.html: Emilio de Paz 
Aragón from Alcachofa Soft for sharing the source code of Drascula: The 
Vampire Strikes Back with us and his generosity with freewaring the game.

Maybe that only covered the engine and not the game bytecode though ...

I don't think bytecode falls under the 'non-functional data' exception 
of the FSDG, because code (the sprites, backgrounds and sound are 
another matter).

As such, I agree they should not be distributed (unless the actual 
sources are found, but even then there is (1.)), as per the first 
sentence of ‘(guix)GNU Distribution’.

Greetings,
Maxime.

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Re: FSDG issues of SCUMMVM-based games

[Liliana Marie Prikler]

Am Samstag, dem 06.08.2022 um 17:24 +0200 schrieb Maxime Devos:
> On 06-08-2022 06:59, Liliana Marie Prikler wrote:
> 
> > 2. The "sources" consist of binaries that are installed as-is.
> 
> The credits of ScummVM state that the source code is available for 
> Drascula[0]
> 
> [0] https://docs.scummvm.org/en/latest/help/credits.html: Emilio de Paz
> Aragón from Alcachofa Soft for sharing the source code of Drascula:
> The Vampire Strikes Back with us and his generosity with freewaring the
> game.
> 
> Maybe that only covered the engine and not the game bytecode though
While that does mean that ScummVM folks have the source, it is not what
they distribute:

Archive:  /gnu/store/wn9043a134dai59shxss6byrlfj2pp9x-drascula-1.0.zip
  Length      Date    Time    Name
---------  ---------- -----   ----
 32847563  05-11-2008 08:38   Packet.001
    46080  05-11-2008 08:38   drascula.doc
     2871  08-31-2008 03:29   readme.txt
---------                     -------
 32896514                     3 files

Also note the difference between freeware and free software.

Cheers

Re: FSDG issues of SCUMMVM-based games

[Christine Lemmer-Webber]

I thought I remembered that "Beneath a Steel Sky" was released by its
authors under GPLv2 to some applause back in the day.  I remember that's
why I installed and played it...

It's mentioned here at least:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneath_a_Steel_Sky#Freeware_release_and_Remastered_edition

Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr> writes:

> [[PGP Signed Part:Undecided]]
> Hi Liliana,
>
> Liliana Marie Prikler 写道：
>> The packages
>> - drascula,
>
> […]
>
>> 1. Their license explicitly prohibits selling of the games
>> themselves
>> and may thus be qualified as non-free.
>
> Yep, it's pretty explicit, and I agree that it's an unreasonable
> restriction that makes the software non-free.
>
>> 2. The "sources" consist of binaries that are installed as-is.
>
> Wow, you weren't kidding.  Of the 1145(!) or 63 MiB(!) of files,
> literally not one is source code.
>
> At best, the archive contains 3 ‘text’ files: one with only numbers,
> one with only asterisks, and one with only blank lines.
>
>> - lure,
>> - queen, and
>> - sky
>
> I didn't check these, but I believe you if you say they're just as
> bad.
>
> I see no way to keep these in Guix.
>
> Thanks!
>
> T G-R
>
> [[End of PGP Signed Part]]