d3GNOP - a new MiniGL game

[mdwh2]

"You can't use it on MorphOS."

I think you mean, the licence says you can't. Whether he can legally or not is another matter entirely, and thankfully "EULA" writers do not make the law.

"It was meant to be cynical because usually no one cares about such "details"."

Including the courts;) (At least, I'm not aware of courts enforcing so called "agreements" that were only claimed by one party, and also, I believe that emulation has been upheld as legal - eg, when Sony tried to stop a Playstation emulator).

[mdwh2]

"It's my code. If you think it legally unenforcible, at least show some respect for that."

People use my code, but just because of that doesn't mean that they are obliged, either legally or ethically, to abide by whatever conditions I like.

I'm not sure where respect comes into it.. you're not showing any respect for their personal circumstances and hardware setup, either.

"Oh, sorry, I know, I'm red and bad. I shall not be respected because I am evil."

? Not sure what you mean here.

[mdwh2]

"I'm not sure I understand - this could certainly be used as an excuse to condone piracy. Note I am not saying you do so, but this is how this comes across."

Except piracy is illegal. That is something which is dictated *by law*. However, emulating or otherwise running under different OS is not illegal.

"I don't understand what hardware setup has to do with it. Or is an x86 user going to complain that he cannot run PPC software?"

If there was a way he could run PPC software (eg, emulation), but you were saying that he's breaking the law or acting immorally, I'd completely disagree with you on both counts.

[mdwh2]

"I didn't want to imply that the author is in violation. But the licence of MiniGL prohibits the usage of the library on non-AmigaOS systems. This includes all MiniGL games (including Heretic II and Quake II)."

I had a read of your link, and it says:

"MiniGL may only be compiled for/ incorporated in code running on AmigaOS. All other rights reserved. This applies only to MiniGL, not to your application, i.e. It's OK to port the application to another platform using OpenGL."

So where on earth does it say that end users can only use this library on Amiga systems - nevermind that such a restriction has no legal weight, it doesn't even say it in the licence.

What the licence says as far as I can tell is that someone can not use it to compile something for a platform other than AmigaOS (and then distribute it). This is legally enforceable, because to distribute a program based on this library, you're distributing some of the code, and so must abide by any terms.

But if the program is compiled for AmigaOS, but someone emulates that on another OS, that's touch luck (unless Hyperion are able to succeed in court better than Sony and Microsoft?)

Now, let's RTFA:

http://www.nic.fi/~varsa/d3gnop/index.html

"Requirements

"Amiga with at least 68040 (PPC is supported via WarpOS) or compatible"

Suggests it's been compiled for AmigaOS. And to be sure, "The game should also run on other compatible platforms/under emulation with right setup (MorphOS, WinUAE)." Note, *emulation*.

[mdwh2]

"So, is MacOS emulation legal?"

As far as I know, emulation is legal. Do you know of any court that has declared otherwise?

And as Jupp3 says, even if EULAs were legally valid, the MiniGL licence does not forbid emulation.