by carton on Fri Jul 29, 2005 1:28 pm
Thanks for your reply, but I'm not asking for interpersonal advice. I think I'm doing just fine, since I succeeded in getting source code out of him, while to my friend who was working on our XBox before me, Pedley just kept saying, ``it's on my web site.'' without giving a URL, and he couldn't find it. This guy in the web forums didn't find it either. I finally got it.
I'm asking simply for GPL compliance, which means offering binaries and sources for download from the same place rather than trying to obfuscate the location of the source, moving it from place to place, giving people terse answers when they ask for it, so that nobody on the forums nor on Irc knows where it is.
It specifically does _not_ mean revoking access to the source code distribution server to people who ask you publicly for source, as Pedley did to me.
This guy should be interested in making sure we have easy access to the source code. He should be surprised if someone complains we don't, and he should be eager to fix the situation. The fact that he's not shows there's something wrong with his attitude. His response in this case is very suspicious, and suggests that I'm right there has been a problem all along. How can you say he's not trying to keep people from accessing the source, when *he has banned my host's access to the source code server*. I had to browse from another IP just to get in.
I'm all for appreciating people's contribution, but I see no reason to tip-toe around the issue when someone who ought to know better is causing real problems by paying lip service to the GPL and setting up all kinds of bans and censorship and access restrictions on anyone who asks for source code. His behavior is reprehensible and shouldn't be tolerated by the community. Comply with the GPL first. Don't hem and haw and do what you believe is the absolute minimum (which I still contend is not adequate for compliance). Once Pedley starts respecting the significant work upon which his minor rebranding changes are based, and not censoring people who ask for their rights under the GPL, then I can focus on being appreciative of his contribution, but for now that seems like the minor issue to me, and this the major issue.