WiiLi.org

[jstoner]

Some code cleanup, comments, a few details, and Boogiepants 0.1, the proof of technology, will be ready to post to Sourceforge. Next up, proof of concept, with real users and everything.

One question remains: what is the distribution/licensing for WiiremoteJ? I know it's not open source, and I'm fine with that, but I do wanna include your jar with my app, and I wanna be sure I'm kosher. Is there anything you need besides credit?
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'In knowledge is power; in wisdom, humility.'

[Cha0s]

Nope. Credit and a link to/copy of the license is all, I think. Here's the text from the LICENSE:
D. You may create software that uses the Library (a "Work") and distribute this software for free or for charge, so long as the conditions in this subsection are met. Note that a Work is defined as an application, utility, library, or any other type of software that accesses the software part of the Library (directly or indirectly) at any point during its execution. Note that Works may not under any circumstances alter the Library in any way. There are no restrictions for distributing Works without the Library (such Works would require users to obtain the Library on their own). Works that include the Library or any portion thereof, however, must meet the following conditions for distribution: (i) the software portion of the Library included with the Work must be complete and unmodified, though the Work need not include any other portion of the Library); if any other portion of the Library is included, it must be unmodified, (ii) you must clearly indicate in a prominent location (for instance, in a README) that the Library is separate from the Work and that it is free for use pursuant to the terms of this License (you must link to the Library or to this License, or you must include this License with your Work, though it need not apply to any code you write as part of the Work).

One problem with SourceForge though is that they don't like it when you have non-open source components hosted on their site. So when you distribute your software on your own, you can certainly bundle them, but probably not on SourceForge. Let me know when you release it!

P.S. Heh, I like how I had to read my own license to remember the rules I set up. *eye roll*
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Cha0s

[jstoner]

can you recommend another place where I could distribute it? I really don't want to bother non-technical users with a complicated install.
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'In knowledge is power; in wisdom, humility.'

[Cha0s]

Hrmmm... You could create an installer that fetches WiiRemote from my site. Alternatively, you could simply set up your own site to host the software and use SourceForge to host the code/community, etc. SourceForge has no qualms with links (to my knowledge).
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Cha0s

[jstoner]

I think what I'll do is wrap the invocation in a bash script (I was planning to do that anyway) and just check if the jar is there, and if not, wget it. Make it easy for the user.

Just out of curiosity: I respect your right to distribute wiiremotej under whatever terms you choose, but why these? What's your thinking?
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'In knowledge is power; in wisdom, humility.'

[Cha0s]

Well, I have two goals with the project.
1. Make it easy for Java developers to work with the Wii Remote.
2. Create a standard library that sticks to the Java adage, "write once, run anywhere."

To elaborate on 2, I don't expect people to have WiiRemoteJ pre-installed to eliminate bundling--that is not my goal. What I hope is that if a developer works finds him or her-self working on multiple Java projects involving the Wii Remote, the library used will be WiiRemoteJ. This makes it easier to collaborate on projects and easier to develop with the Wii Remote and Java in general.

Note, that goal #2 was something added much later in the development cycle when WiiRemoteJ began to be well received. My original reason for making it closed-source was that it was a tangle of relatively uncommented code (it's been cleaned up a lot since then ). When I released WiiRemoteJ, it was the only Java Wii Remote library, and my only goal was to help developers work with the Wii Remote. Since then, I've added goal 2.

As to why I don't make it open source now, I fear that if I release the code, it will be forked (which is not inherently a bad thing, as forking can lead to incredible enhancements to an application). I fear that this would undermine the desired goal in #2. While a larger group of people looking at and working with the code could result in a slightly more streamlined product, I feel like the potential loss portability is not worth the gain (at the moment, we currently have three different Wii Remote libraries in Java. One is platform specific and two are pure Java). Note that I think the benefits of open sourcing a project are highly dependent on what the project is. Open sourcing DirectX, for instance, probably would not result in a vastly improved product (there are other benefits to doing so in this example, e.g. for Wine, but those don't apply to WiiRemoteJ).

One of the big benefits of open source software that is true for all projects is that open source allows the project to be very customizable depending on your needs. I try to make up for this by being very responsive to user feedback and fixing bugs very quickly: if there's a feature you want and it makes sense in WiiRemoteJ, ask me and it'll probably be there within a few weeks (or less, depending on the feature). As a result of this practice, of the three existing Java Wii Remote libraries, WiiRemoteJ is the most fully-featured and (I think) bug-free, despite the fact that the others are open source.


As for the specific restrictions laid out in the License, I want to ensure that people are absolutely aware that WiiRemoteJ is free to use/develop with, and if someone says, "Hey, that's cool, I wish I could do that," they'll know the resources are available. I've considered removing the specific requirement of having to directly link to/include the License as anyone who's really curious will probably just Google it anyway. Let me know if this is something you think would be beneficial.

Note that though the entirety of the code is closed source, I'm certainly willing to explain how I did a specific task/share snippets from the code. My reluctance to release the entirety of the source is not an issue of possessiveness so much as a desire to create a standard (which I concede may be vain to a degree, but would also be beneficial to the community at large, I feel).

Sorry for being so long-winded, but I hope that answers your question to some extent.
P.S. I'm horribly exhausted, so if anything I said didn't make sense, feel free to call me out on it (hopefully I'll be alert and awake at that point ).
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Cha0s