• Dran@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    My personal favorite is the “companies are obligated to support it forever, or open source the server software hosted by a third party, hosting paid for up front for at least a year.”

    They get to keep my money forever don’t they?

    • Lodra@programming.dev
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      10 months ago

      While I love the spirit of this idea, it gets complicated fast. Worlds adrift is a great example. The game’s server was created using some closed source libraries with a paid license. So when the owning company (Bossa Studios?) went under, they were unable to open source it.

      A law like this would effectively kill all licensed software that isn’t a full product. I do agree though; we need a solution

      • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        When the initially licensed the library, they should’ve included distributed binary copies. That may have allowed them to release the source for their game alongside the binary of the library.

        • Lodra@programming.dev
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          10 months ago

          An interesting idea but it’s not possible with all languages. E.g. golang. But probably not the case with worlds adrift. I’m guessing it’s more of an incentive problem for the other company. No more revenue = why bother?

          • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
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            10 months ago

            I think it’s like when a tv show doesn’t bother to negotiate the music rights for syndication and then they can’t air it anymore if the audio can’t be removed.

            “What happens in 10 years?” Isn’t always a priority. Also, I’m sure that makes the price go up.

          • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
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            10 months ago

            Also, you could use CGo, but if you know golang, then you know why that’s not always a viable option.