Re: FSDG issues of SCUMMVM-based games

[Liliana Marie Prikler <liliana.prikler@gmail.com>]

Am Donnerstag, dem 15.06.2023 um 18:30 +0200 schrieb Denis 'GNUtoo'
Carikli:
> Also if:
> - There are no free programs for ScummVM (a hello world under
>   a free license would could count as a free program) (we don't know 
>   if it's the case or not)
> - ScummVM needs to be patched to run modified games (this is very
>   likely)
> - We don't know if it's possible to build a game for ScummVM
>   with only free software (the game doesn't necessarily need to be
>   public but free software tools would need to exist to build it).
> 
> Then it would clearly steers users toward nonfree software. 
I don't think we need to be that harsh on ScummVM itself, it being a
virtual machine.  Compare it to Wine: the tools to create Windows
binaries with free software only are limited (albeit existing if we
discount the necessity for system headers), but it still serves a
purpose by enabling you to run said programs without resorting to a
Windows machine.  Even if no such toolchain exists for ScummVM, you
need ScummVM as a testbed to write one :)

The only limiting factor here is your point (2), i.e. it being able to
run arbitrary games compiled for the VM.  I don't think that weird
checksums ought to be enforced if they're not baked into the program
itself.

> I've looked a bit at another game (draci-historie[2]) that has some
> source code published. This game is not packaged nor redistributed by
> Guix but it looks way better than the other freedom wise and it can
> teach us how ScummVM games are made.
> 
> Its probably not good enough as-is as its source code also also
> relies on a tarball that contains executable to build the game and I
> also didn't manage to build it with Guix yet (I've attached a file
> with my attempt) but maybe it's possible to get it to build and maybe
> we can build a 100% free software version of it.
You might be able to bootstrap parts of it with fpc, i.e. the Free
Pascal Compiler.  I'm not sure whether you'll encounter the necessity
for Borland Pascal, as we package version 3.2.2, which is somewhat
newer than the mentioned 2.4.

Cheers