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Re: [TCLUG:131] X11Amp version 0.7



> have those people finally come to their senses, and relased the source? or
> do we still have to deal with their bad attitude

They have officially said that the source code will never be released..
 
> for those of you who don't know, the X11amp developers choose not to
> release their source, because they don't want their code "ripped off"
> some of the people i have talked to about this, (who also do very good
> code) have agreed to a few things
> 1: they don't understand what the GNU public license really does.
> they think they will be "riped off" but GNU software is protected by the
> license. if code is used in other applications, it MUST include proper
> recognition to the source of the code.. no ripping off there
> and any changes to the original source MUST be sent back to the original
> authors for aproval, otherwise you are not allowed to distribute it.
> 2: their code must be really poor, that would be one of the only reasons
> that they would not release the source.

From what I understand, it's mostly just one guy's pet project, with two
others helping with grapics and such..
 
> I, and a few others do not use X11amp, simply because of their anti-GNU
> attitutde, why bother writing software for linux, if you don't make the
> source available.. I would love to be able to compile X11amp for my DEC
> alpha, or port it to work on sparc stations.  For those who would love a
> really cool alternative to X11amp, try tk3play 2.0, it's not as flashy as
> X11amp, but is much faster, and more feature rich.  It's playlist editor
> is VERY good, and it is the only mp3 player i have found to date, that can
> do FAST FORWARD AND REWIND!

I think releasing the source would definitely speed development. 
They're _planning_ on creating versions for other Linux platforms, and
other Unices as well (I think..)  Whether that will ever happen or not
is up in the air..

As you said, there are only a few mp3 players for Linux that do FF/REW,
which is very odd IMO.  X11Amp, eMusic (a player for Enlightenment..), a
GTK one (I can't remember the name), and tk3play.  X11Amp supports
WinAmp skins, and so does eMusic (after a conversion, I believe -- I
never got it to compile.. grr..).  And, I have to admit, I use X11Amp
because it's flashier than the others (well, eMusic is probably
flashier.. but I had my aforementioned problems.)

Back a bit to the whole "To GPL, or not to GPL" question.  As long as
they aren't using GPLed code in their player, I think they have the
right to do whatever they want with it.  There will always be people
that feel their rights could be violated by releasing source.  Of
course, it may just be a way for them to move into the shareware scene,
where they ship a crippled free version and require registration
(ugh..)  Anyway, they may come around in time..  Who can know for sure?

Mike Hicks