Following text is in Public Domain
Written at least by Karel Rous in 2005
Dear electronic traveller,
Many times I was thinking about reasons for having
simple and understandable piece of code. Unfortunately I haven't found
any. So my projects are again and again starting as small pieces of
code and at the end they are a huge and bad. After all, since the era
of 8-bit computers, there are more and more pieces of code huge and
strange to casual reader. Coder often cannot reproduce it at all and
have to write it once again or reuse simply irrational pieces of
libraries which are full of useless things because of comfort of user
or stupid requirement of of customer or author itself.
The next problem is also with copyrights notes,
computer languages and many other unbelieveable things connected to
final product.
Last problem is connected because of inconsistency
in logic between separate libraries.
I should mention at least that there are tens of
computer languages with different attitude to coding itself and the
same it is with coders themselves.
I really would like to write readable piece of code
which is self explanatory and do not asks the general reader to think
for more than 100's because the original author was genius but forgot
to write down what was the reason he done things the way that average
coder cannot understand at all. He missed to write 10 pages of
documentation not because his lazyness. He is usually evolutionary
thinking. Philosophy of my program? For what? It is changing all the
time, don't you know that?
Shoudn't we stop such race? Well I must admit I
really don't know how. But I have decided to help it if anyone is
interested. My area is limited to coding system for making 2d/3d games.
My languages are C and Python. My object is release of commented and
understandable game logic which is going to be Public
Domain/(BSD if needed)/(GPL at some stage) to help any other to do such thing with less effort than I have to (I am doing it since 2000 and haven't created any functional solution in fact).
There is one developer's step I have to go through.
It is releasing less readable but still well documented game using GNU
License and C++,C and Python mix. For this I have chosen as a reallife
template some kind of derivative work on Cyphesis server v0.3.8, Atlas
library 0.4.94, mercator, wfmath etc. as it is seen on
www.worldforge.org. Graphics is probably going to be taken
from Reiner Steinke's tileset as it was published for any usage or
created by anyone.
Why should it be finally public domain?
It is hard to say. But from the philosophical point
of view: "If we find a rational way for doing things cooperative with
written work explaining it, we will have a generally working example of
such project. And as it is not common to copyright stones on
the road or stars in the sky. Final project isn't going to be more than playfield for beings or undead :). They stay inside borders composed of moves and existence of other objects inside.
Later it could play chess by itself, business simulation for game world or real show of a fish inside a pond. I really don't know.
Let's start a discussion.