On 6/24/98 10:06 PM, j f chaos (jfchaos@JUNO.COM) stated:
>> Well here we go...
>> Patent them and chase offenders how?
>>seems like a bad statment but it is, you have to accept that if you
>>post am idea, code, etc you gonna get people who use it and give no
>credit
>>much less something in the log in screen. Sorry man you put it on a ftp
>>site you must accept such things unless you rich and bored.
>>
>[snip]
>I haven't entered anyone into my credits yet, but I have all the
>patches/snippets that have been put in and tinkered with in their own
>directory so that when I go to get the mud up and running I can just put
>them in (or hunt down the people that have no name in the file);
>
>As to this thread a piece of code being copyrighted isn't easily proved.
>All someone has to really do is change the time/date stamp and add some
>cosmetic changes to make it look like they coded it first.
>
>I think that the person should be given credit for something they
>probably slaved over and tore their hair out getting to work.
Then there is a final option - exclusive selection of recipients of
snippets. Such that one would have to join a group to receive code
snippets, and that by being a member of the group you have agreed to give
proper credit and obey the licenses, and if it is discovered you didn't
follow the terms... then you get booted from the group.
"No Code For You!" "Bad Coder! No Twinkie!"
Only one or two pieces of my code have ever been shared to the public,
for two reasons - I don't want people claiming they wrote it, and (and
this may sound selfish) I don't want competition. I have, however,
shared pieces of my code exclusively with friends I have made on this
list, such as DOOMer/Akuma, on a trust basis. We don't expect a place in
the credits or the logon screen, just a "don't tell people you wrote it
yourself" kind of deal.
I admit, I take credit for our implementation of Death's Gate scripts -
but not for the code itself or the idea or system, but for our
implementation - i.e, how our MUD differs from the stock DG scripts. The
same with our OLC - we use "AlienOLC, a derivative of OasisOLC".
But it all boils down to this - if you release your code, people will use
it. If people use your code, some will not give proper credit. Why does
it always seem like we have problems with this or that it is out of
control? The truth is, it is a problem, but it is not out of control.
Think about how many people you have seen use a given piece of code.
Then think of how many have given proper credit. And finally, truth be
told, if I were to write a "copy" of OasisOLC that looked exactly like
OasisOLC, functioned like OasisOLC, but I wrote it with NO code from
OasisOLC, then I would not be wrong to NOT give credit for it, but I
could very well and properly claim credit for the work. And Linus
Torvalds would probably agree with me.
- Chris Jacobson
PS: if you do use a lot of code from certain people, it is nice to add to
the login screen... here is the credits section of the login screen from
Aliens vs Predator: The MUD
Based on LexiMUD, a creation of Chris Jacobson and the AvP Team, with
code
created by, or based on code by, George Greer, Eric Green, Stefan
Wasilewski
David Berry, Jushua Mentzer, Harvey Gilpin, Brian Williams, Daniel
Muller.
A derivative of CircleMUD 3.0, by Jeremy Elson; and DikuMUD, by Hans
Henrik
Staerfeldt, Katja Nyboe, Tom Madsen, Michael Seifert, and Sebastian
Hammer
PPS... Oh yes, Oatmeal Cream Pies. If you live in the US (and any other
country Little Debbie snack goods are available), the Oatmeal Cream Pies
are EXTREMELY delicious, low-fat, and for 12 for $1.30 or so, can't be
beat for late night coding snacks!
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