the next generation Lassie
Something i've been meaning to ask.. is the next generation Lassie's going to still be freeware? I guess on thing that worries me is all the changes for the greater good could push the engine out of limits for coding inept people like myself :oops: BUT saying that 2 years ago, i didn't have a clue about flash, but somehow muggled thro to make a few half assed games lol

I am 99.9% sure (.1% chance that Greg turns evil) that all versions of Lassie (as long as it's run by Greg) will be freeware.

LOL... that is not the question that should be troubling you because, YES, it will be free! The real question under serious consideration is will it be open source? I'm leaning toward "yes" for that as well. I'm researching the different open source licenses and trying to find a good fit. While I like GNU, I'm debating if it is the best fit for Lassie.

I didn't realize there were different Open Source licenses. I can see where GNU isn't a good fit. When software goes GNU, it opens it up to everyone, and you start seeing 500 different versions of the software. But it at least keeps it away from being sold.

No, that's the drawback... GNU does NOT prevent it from being sold. All GNU does is mandates that the project never become closed source. You can charge as much money as you like for work created with GNU GPL open source material so long as modifications and alterations remain publicly available. It's the concept of "copyleft". Instead of "copyright" which restricts intellectual property to the owner, copyleft aims to restrict exclusive ownership and keep all intellectual material available to everyone.

If the goal of going open source is to get the job done quicker, i'd def re-consider I'd hate to see you get shafted after all the hard work you've put in over the years Trust no one specially if they are sobber :wink:

OK, I'm remembering the GNU lawsuit I saw a few months ago now. There was a TV PC in production that used Linux (or someother GNU licence). The company was sued because the did not allow users to access the code they used.

No, the goal would NOT be to get the job done quicker. I have yet to find any talented action script programmers who share my interest in the genre that would like to partner up. I've come to terms with being all by my lonesome on Lassie development. The goal for making it open-source would just be to make it accessible to those who are interested in the inner workings. Lassie is not terribly hot as a commercial product, but then I have made $500 off licensing source code before. So, it does have SOME value. Dunno. I keep going back and forth. The reason that I continue building it is not for money certainly. More than anything, it's always been the key to my professional development. Right now I'm working like craze on the AS3 player because I NEED to know AS3. My job demands it... and let me tell ya, Lassie has been the money for bringing me up to speed. Incidentally, I might add that this is why I have an extremely hard time supporting old Lassie versions... I get one thing out of Lassie development: knowledge and skill. Once I've passed a threshold, working on outdated code is useless to me personally. I don't get anything out of it, I'm just wasting time putting band-aids on crap I did badly three years ago. Doing upgrades and bug fixes can still be insightful, but in the current climate, any time spent working is AS2 is useless. Know what I mean?