Forums > MobyGames > Open Source
Xoleras (66137) on 9/20/2009 5:52 AM · Permalink · Report
Open Source is tracked via the Business Model : Freeware or Public Domain tech-spec. (It's basically in-between those two models anyway.)
MegamanX64 (16003) on 9/20/2009 1:49 PM · Permalink · Report
Technically, open source does not mean it is free. A piece of software can be licensed open source and still be sold (although it has basically become synonymous with free). So it's not correct to bundle it with freeware etc.
To be accurate we would need to add a license options. Most games would fall into "proprietary" but it would give the opportunity to specify the exact license.
Also remember games where the source code is open source but the graphics etc is still copyrighted (id Software comes to mind).
Xoleras (66137) on 9/20/2009 2:11 PM · Permalink · Report
You can also sell public domain stuff for money. You can even alter it to reflect that it's your work, thought you might actually have done nothing but change the "by ..." line.
On the other hand, freeware is actually very restrictive. Sure you can distribute it freely, but that's it. Adding/changing even a bit might constitute copyright infringement. :P
Once it's open source, can't I take the released source and compile/build it? Or is there a licensing model that prohibits source code releases for open source or prohibits compiling at all?
<hr />And for id: we are tracking the original business model rather then the current one.