From: seebs@plethora.net (Peter Seebach) Subject: Richard Garriott to leave FSF Date: 2000/04/01 Message-ID: <38e64ca8$0$23083@news.plethora.net>#1/1 X-Trace: gemini.plethora.net.POSTED 954617000 23083 seebs@205.166.146.8 Organization: Plethora . Net - More Net, Less Spam! Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg X-Complaints-To: admin@plethora.net In a move sure to stun onlookers, Richard "Lord British" Garriott announced today that he is breaking his ties with the Free Software Foundation, claiming a "difference in visions" as the reasion for the split. "Frankly, we really weren't working together.", he explained. Garriott expressed concern about the FSF's policy of releasing source code to programs, explaining that gamers would not be challenged by a game if they could simply alter it to win. "Many gamers," he pontificated, "believe that it is makes sense for their `avatars' in a game world to be completely invulnerable. This is silly. Only a psychotic, twisted, megalomaniac would want his avatar in a game world to be invulnerable."[1] Garriott blames Open Source (c)(R)(tm)(:-) for the widespread copying and piracy of the "egcs" game. "I wanted a game where you never knew what you could compile, or what language features were supported. I wanted progress, real progress, but I wanted it to come to the user as a surprise. By distributing the source to this game, the FSF ruined the fun for many potential gamers." Garriott is planning to start a new company which will focus on better, more exciting, games. His hope is to create a "complete, virtual, world" in which players can encounter his godlike avatar, beseech it for quests, and kill each other and take their stuff. [2] Due to a rift in the space-time continuum, this foot note is in the wrong place. -- Copyright 2000, All rights reserved. Peter Seebach / seebs@plethora.net C/Unix wizard, Pro-commerce radical, Spam fighter. Boycott Spamazon! Consulting & Computers: http://www.plethora.net/ Get paid to surf! No spam. http://www.alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=GZX636