Posted By
TLC
on 2007-03-26
13:33:18
|  Re: Beta version of new emulator is now available
I slept over it before replying, so, here it goes...
I'm sorry to see that you seem to have given up _that_ early. ...This project has been special to me, in the sense of having all potential to grow up becoming something universal. ...But I remember having written all this to you right at the beginning... so it's not new. Open source, portability, building upon well defined foundations (instead of building upon something unuseable, like I guess VICE is suffering from) and someone with good will and sense at the wheel are all important factors. This project seemed to have all those factors, whilst all others missed and are still missing on at least one of those each.
As for your points about no interest or no contribution (two different issues IMHO) and your code being copied, well... Hmmm. First, it's been really not long since your project came up. Judging from 3 months of feedback (especially if the first release that you yourself considered a beta has not been out for more than one week or so) is a little bit irreal... As you can see, most people here are Windows oriented, and aren't especially interested in a multiplatform emulator, unless it's really cool and polished just by itself (without considering any other properties)... which, with all due respect (as it's a really short time period) "ep128emu2" is still far from. In other words, 95% of people here really don't care if someone's going to build an emulator whose functionality they already have in Yape. On the other hand, you, yourself could have helped getting more attention by mentioning the project on more forums, and also, finding a nice name for the project at the first place, and by separating the Enterprise and Commodore parts (literally) from each other (which imho both spoiled some potential users and created some confusion). The project still doesn't have a catchy name (like, say, VICE, Mess and others all do)... if I were you, I'd go for that before anything else. What's still left is of the social kind... simple incompatibility in style, personal ignorance, personal, unconscious envy and things like that... things that you should probably simply ignore, unless you're also affected... in which case I probably won't make a judgement at all. As to contributing to the project... to be effectively able to contribute, one would probably need a good knowledge in C++, the GNU toolchain, the TED, and some time spent with Linux won't hurt also... now take the intersection of the groups from people you've met here, and make a guess of the number of potential contributors... getting upset of no contributors, having talked about the project at just one forum and things above is really pointless as I guess.
Considering the possibility of copying your code... well, I hoped that you're aware of this, and you just don't care. Opensource projects all have the potential of becoming a source, maybe in more than just one respect... I have expected you to have created the project with this in mind. Attila has for example learnt tricks and programming solutions from a lot of opensource emulators before and while creating Yape, and while I certainly feel asymmetry between the facts that while he could learn, he doesn't pass this possibility on to others, this won't change the pure fact and glory I feel towards those opensource projects that make and have been making this possible for long... unasked and whith no personal preference ever. Speaking of Yape and Attila in particular -- as both of you and me know that they were aimed at by your comment -- I know that there's some kind of rivalry between you two, and both of you observe each others steps as closely as you just can... from that on, I won't make a judgement, you both get what you wanted, and having said those things, I admit that with those conditions in mind, it's really impossible to work on an opensource project (even if I'm sorry about that). Mind you, speaking as someone who could watch both of your projects growing, your appearance did indeed speed things up around the development of Yape (Attila seems to be one of those lucky ones who can take extra energy from stress), but just as you did, he discovered things himself. ...You may ask yourself whether you're proud of what you're doing... and if you are, consider why someone else shouldn't be just as proud of his deeds and capabilities as you are.
All in all... I guess, moving to closed source is a big step back, certainly what makes your project no different to others available, in potential of growth and useability. You may make this decision, which is no other than itself -- a decision, with its pros and cons. For one, I'm not more interested in one particular closed source emulator than any others available, and would certainly consider using a binary-only Plus/4 emulator under Linux only as a last resort. Hope you'll reconsider this decision -- with which, you're effectively losing --... and, well, keep up the good work... 
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