Re: Ask yourself some questions (was: Discussion - non-free software removal)
Richard Braakman wrote:
On Thu, Nov 14, 2002 at 02:00:03AM -0500, Branden Robinson wrote:
I find the term "requirements" more persuasive when applied to packages
like graphviz than to stuff like angband and bsdgames-nonfree.
Hmm, I have the opposite opinion. I think a case can be made for
Angband long after graphviz is no longer needed. You see, people
play games in order to enjoy their individual character: they want
to enjoy *that* game, and another game, no matter how similar, would
be a *different* game. As an analogy, what would you accept as
a "free alternative" for your favourite novel?
Is that like having to read Terry Brooks instead of Tolkien? :)
Another example of something I'd like to see (but not yet in non-free)
is Squeak. It is free except for an unenforcible bitmap font
clause.
> For some people,
Angband is their favourite game, and nothing can effectively replace
it until they tire of it. (Historical evidence shows that tiring
of it can take decades, despite the presence of excellent alternatives
such as Crawl :-)
Perhaps langband when it is done? (A rewrite of "traditional angband"
in common lisp.)
(Hey, for all I know angband is a great game, but it's hard for me to
conceive of it as mission-critical to anyone.)
It's critical to those who are addicted to it :-)
You have my sympathies. Fortunately, I'm only addicted to Nethack,
which I can take with me (it runs under Opie/Qtopia on the iPAQ).
Still, having read Quenta Silmarillion, I think I'm going to have
to take a look at this game.
Steve
dunham@cse.msu.edu
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