Should the MSX community move to the GPL/Freeware software?
I mean that nowadays everybody in the MSX community is using software (games, apps, SOs) that they are not entitled to use legaly. This is a fact and you cannot deny it.

But, should we now go on freeware? I think that the community is quite narrow, and we should produce freeware.

Now comes the poll:

Should new MSX software be free?

I think that it is interesting because sometimes it seems that there are STILL some economic interest hidden in some actions.

Interesting idea, could you also suggest the answers? We normally have 4 to 5 options to choose from as answer. Just "yes" and "no" is a bit boring

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I think that it is interesting because sometimes it seems that there are STILL some economic interest hidden in some actions.

What's wrong with 'economic' interest? If I were to create a new piece of software for MSX tommorow and I want people to pay for it, so what? It's up to the customer if they like the software enough to buy it, isn't it?

Sunrise still sells MSX software, take Bombaman for example. What's wrong with the 'economic' interest of Team Bomba and Sunrise? I think it's great that the developers get a little money after developing for years.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Please suggest possible answers, then we can put this one on our 'user suggested polls' pile

Uh.. no.. that is: there shouldn't be a general 'law' about software being free or not. It should be completely up to the makers to decide whether their product is free or not. It's not a good idea to decide that software 'should be free' and then point fingers to those who still want to sell.

The whole principle of GPL/Freeware is based on freedom of choice. If I create software for MSX, I want to have the choice to make it free or to sell it. You can't just say 'and now everybody who creates software for MSX should make it GPL/Freeware!'

btw.. what is/was the most expensive amateur/scene msx game ever ?

Should it be a game or is software in general okay too? FST and MB were quite pricey when they were just released.

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Uh.. no.. that is: there shouldn't be a general 'law' about software being free or not. It should be completely up to the makers to decide whether their product is free or not. It's not a good idea to decide that software 'should be free' and then point fingers to those who still want to sell.

true!
on the other hand, i only make free stuff with free stuff

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btw.. what is/was the most expensive amateur/scene msx game ever ?

I think it's DASS. It costed like 60 guilders a long time ago, but it came with quite some goodies too.

Well, all these prices are old prices.. if a new game costs ~ 15..20 euro .. then who cares anyway?

Economic interest? There's none in the amateur scene. Sure, you might get some small profits, but if you really want to get some money, just get a real job Also, when selling software/hardware, you have to make some small profits because there's always a chance you won't sell everything. Plus you need it for development of new hardware.

Besides, there's nothing wrong with asking money for things you made It's up to the buyers if they want to spend money on software. If something's too expensive, just don't buy it. And it's not like we asked a redicilous price for Bombaman. There are worse games to be bought for twice the money

GPL and Freeware are quite different. Freeware means the user does not have to pay for the binary (ROM or disk image for MSX games). GPL means the user gets the source code as well, including the right to make new games using that source (there is more to GPL, but this already shows it is different from Freeware).

When releasing a game under GPL, you could release just the engine under GPL, or the entire game, including script and artwork. And the tools used to make the game could be interesting as well.

Free? Why??

If I want to publish something for free, I can. I usually do that with small tools and utilities, demo's, etc. If I want to ask a little money for something I made or a team I am in made, that is another choice, and there is really nothing against it. After all, an important thing about people paying for something is that it basically is just a token of appreciation, and I'd get something in return for my effort which is nice and I can use. And that has nothing to do with 'economic interest'.

For me, choosing whether to publish something as freeware or for some money basically depends on what kind of program it is. I doubt I will ever sell a utility or tool for money. Games on the other hand, I doubt I will ever give one away for free (also because they're usually a lot more work).


~Grauw

p.s. I strongly object against the notion that giving away something for free does make one a 'better' person than others. Some people think they can justify everything by not asking money for it.

p.s.2. I very much dislike GPL. Creative Commons licenses or the likes are much nicer. If I create something, I want it to be useful for everyone, and not exclude commercial use on beforehand. Of course, if someone uses my work commercially, I want to get a cut as well.

Yeah... There's nothing wrong with paying a > little < for software. Actually, as long the price suits the product I prefer to pay a little and get a nice box and manual instead of dowloading a free disk-image which I need to smack on a DD myself or gets lost on my harddrive. Don't get me wrong, I like free software, but especially when it comes to games or good demo's I prefer to get them with a nice box or whatnot.

I also have nothing against the idea of the creator(s) being able to go sip a beer with the 'profit' they make on something that often took them months to make. The only things I don't like are overpriced products. People do need to know what they should charge money for, and what they should release.

But generally, yeah, I like it when software is free. I loved to be able to just download a Snatcher English patch to then play it on my MSX. I also don't mind paying 14 euro's for Bombaman, especially knowing how long these guys have worked on it. For me it's nice to see they could almost buy half a hamburger in McDonald's...

So, no, nothing *must* be free. The mere concept is ridiculous. If you have made something for MSX and decide to give it away for free, great! However if you've made something particularly nice, like a game or really nice demo/tool, I think you should consider releasing a 'commercial' version of it. I like my software boxed! (If it's worth it.)

The idea is just to receive a little feeback and know what is the opinion of the MSX users.

At the moment, most of us do use software that is still copyrighted. Could we do a campaign to free some of the classic games? Some time ago I contacted Namco Europe, and they did not know what an MSX is, but anyway they said NO. Perhaps if we could contact the original programmers...

This process should be quite difficult right now, because of Project Egg, but we can try. In Spain all this is going on, and I think that we will get many commercial games switched to freeware.

I think the Bombaman people earned a little more than half a hamburger's worth... ^_^

With the profit they can probably buy some nice new hardware. Say, Gfx9000's for everyone on their team who haven't got one yet, for their next game (just an example).


~Grauw