[H-GEN] Linux games are still proprietory

[Trent WADDINGTON]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
[ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]


I was recently asked about games on the Linux platform and how I felt
about them.  I expressed that I supported Linux games development and
really hoped that one day we could physically walk into a store and buy
them off the shelf (at, say, k-mart or electronics boutique).  The person
asking was aware of my bias towards Free Software and Open Source and
asked how I could ethically justify my support of Linux games, being that
most of them are still proprietory software.  Being a advocate who
believes Free Software should be sold side-by-side on the same shelf as
proprietory software, I have to admit I was a little stumped.  Clearly I
support free and open games, but I also see the compulsion to make Linux
games proprietory.

This lead to, what I think is, a very different conversation in regards to
copyright protection.  Perhaps my guard was down (having just admitted the
legitimacy of _some_ proprietory software), but I found it difficult to
justify why I believed it is "not right" to prevent someone from sharing
their copy of a game with fellow gamers at a lan meeting (say, by
detecting duplicate CD keys).  Clearly there is something "not nice" about
preventing people from enjoying themselves, but if Linux users are to
support games on their platform (and by that I _do_ mean monetarially)
should we feel compeled to put up with this kind of crap?

All in all it wasn't a pleasant conversation :)

Opinions?

Trent


--
* This is list (humbug) general handled by majordomo at lists.humbug.org.au .
* Postings to this list are only accepted from subscribed addresses of
* lists 'general' or 'general-post'.  See http://www.humbug.org.au/