Many pages can be read already that it has made the Humble Indie Bundle in a third edition. As usual, the buyer gets the bundle a number of games to determine a price which the buyer can own. As usual, much of the revenue goes to the NGO Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child's Play, and as usual, this time the Linux users, the most generous buyer.This time there is a kind of “special”, which contains only the Finnish label Frozenbyte games. Specifically, this would be Trine, Shadowgrounds, Shadowgrounds Survivor and Splot after completion, as well as “bonus” that Jack Claw set project that is provided, including the source code. It is not the first time that the source code of the Humble-games will be released, yet there was in each bundle at least one game whose code has been released, but what's happened so far with the code? The FOSS community has benefited from the release?

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At the start of the first

Humble Indie Bundle, the plan was to release as open source, where some games do not directly known. Only careful observer could see the video at minute 1:17 to bundle the announcement “If we raise over $ 1,000,000 then Gish, Penumbra Overture and Lugaru will release their source code”. The set was probably removed after the creation of the video again from the homepage.

Been fulfilled the promise?

Since the yield has exceeded

With nearly 1.3 million dollars the limit specified clearly, are the three labels were in the duty was to make her promise that they are properly fulfilled. The second bundle was considered on the FOSS community, unfortunately, not so generous, only the code of a game to be published. Until now, however this is only the announcement, then the release when the release occurs. On Twitter @ Humble will be held in this regard to date

Humble Indie Bundle # 1:

World of Goo: Continuing proprietaryAquaria: Announcement – Mercurial repo – GPL v2Gish: Announcement – GitHub – GPL v3Penumbra: Overture: Announcement – GitHub – GPL v3Lugaru: Announcement – Mercurial repo – GPL v2Samorost 2: Further, proprietary

Humble Indie Bundle # 2:

Braid: Continuing proprietaryCortex Command: Continuing proprietaryMachinarium: Continuing proprietaryOsmos: Continuing proprietaryRevenge of the Titans: Announcement – To date, no published

What has caused the release of the sources of the games is difficult to understand. None of the games has made it into the repositories of Debian. It was also often “only” release the source code, but not the artwork. So you can build the game of course not independent and / or distribute over the suite of Linux distributions.

What happened after the release of the code

Positive and negative experiences

Wolfire Games has with the release of the code to Lugaru made. On the one hand, the game was ported to the Amiga, without the approval of the code, this would certainly not have happened. Wolfire was far from happy but with the appearance of a derivative of the open source version of Lugaru HD version in the App Store from Apple.

Quite brazen developers Lugaru HD tried under the name “Lugaru” for $ 1.99 rather than $ 9.99 sell. Relying on the GPL, the developer believed in the game right under their direction, may also sell to. However, only the source code is open from Lugaru, all trademarks and copyrights remain the artwork at Wolfire. Thus, a further sales of the game is not readily possible.

What then remains of the release of the source code? For the end user at first glance, not much unfortunately. One can not easily use the package management games, the games are also not freely available elsewhere. Who does not have the “open source” games purchased with the bundle, the need to buy them at interest.

The games label is probably a mixed feeling on the one hand, they benefit by sharing developed by the community mods and porting. On the other hand, floats well with always the fear that the “generous” sharing of the code takes revenge somehow.

In my view this concern is unfounded, however, what happened around the ribbed version of Lugaru shows that actually works well just for the games release the code under the GPL, because without the story, the artwork and other “art” in game can not work legally, such a rip.

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