How about a "Humble DraStic Bundle" to open the source code?

[TiagoVeloso]

I love DraStic as much as I love Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).

I think all emulators in the world should be free software by design. But I don't came here to judge Exophase or Lordus, but to make a proposal: what do you think of contacting Humble Bundle guys and propose a "Humble DraStic Bundle" (as a full bundle or weekly sale) to help spread DraStic in the Android world and - as a bonus - open the source code?

Several "Humble Bundles" are well remembered for having raised millions and allowed indie developers to open their sources. All of these games became free software: Gish, Penumbra, Lugaru, Aquaria, Revenge of the Titans, Jack Claw, Darwinia, Multiwinia, DEFCON, Uplink, Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_Bundle.

DraStic would be distributed by the Humble Bundle Android app (http://humblebundle.com/app) for the hundreds of thousands people who collaborated and you could still maintain the paid app in Google Play (at the same or for a symbolic price, like one dollar).

DraStic's source code could go to Github with a GPL license and it could be enhanced by the community and even included in projects like RetroArch!

The money could be used for you dedicate themselves exclusively to DraStic and port it to other platforms like iOS!

Please don't get me wrong, I love Exophase for his amazing work with gpSP and I just would love if Drastic was the same way!

This could also be a crowdfunding project (on Kickstarter or Indiegogo), but I believe a Humble Bundle would have much more success!

[beansta]

Its only paid on android. To enjoy it on its original platform (the open pandora) you can always go grab that one for free. And as DraStic is written from scratch and contains no code from any other source it doesn't need to be released under an open source license. But that's not to say it won't happen in the future though

[TiagoVeloso]

Of course it's free on Pandora. But it still not free software. And you can't compare a niche platform as Pandora (with less than 10.000 units) with Android, which is reaching a billion units worldwide!

And I'm not saying that they have to open up the code. Absolutely not! It's just a proposal, a suggestion. Only a personal desire from me and from a huge community of developers and enthusiasts.

[Jay Haru]

Of course it's free on Pandora. But it still not free software. And you can't compare a niche platform as Pandora (with less than 10.000 units) with Android, which is reaching a billion units worldwide!

And I'm not saying that they have to open up the code. Absolutely not! It's just a proposal, a suggestion. Only a personal desire from me and from a huge community of developers and enthusiasts.

Well, exo did say he would release the source eventually. Now, when is that is up to him. It may seem rude but don't take it as such. 'It doesn't matter what you or I think, what only matters is what exo thinks as it is his'.

[AsHperson]

Personally, I'm not sure how well it would work out, for one, our control on other 3rd parties re-releasing it on the web or the play store as free(or even worse, making money on it).

[TiagoVeloso]

I totally understand that my opinion or desire do not make any difference. If Exophase don't want to, the code will remain proprietary forever. I also understand that he has already said that he intends to open the code eventually.

The purpose of my post is just to create ways to open the code and still reach certain milestones:

1. Getting funding ($ $ $) to continue development for months or maybe years.

2. Disseminate DraStic. Hundreds of thousands of people would know it through the Humble Bundle. The "brand" DraStic would be marked as THE DS emulator for Android. DraStic would gain momentum, especially with the free software community by opening the code.

The question about third parties re-releasing DraStic on Google Play is almost impossible to solve. This can happen with ANY free software. It turns out that, from the moment that DraStic has hundreds of thousands of installations and milestone 2 I quoted above (disseminate) has been realized, it will not make sense for people to use copycats (especially if it becomes free on Google Play).

But the mindset has to be different (in my humble opinion): from the moment that the Bundle has earned thousands or millions of dollars for DraStic, we would have no such great concern with copycats.

[Jay Haru]

I totally understand that my opinion or desire do not make any difference. If Exophase don't want to, the code will remain proprietary forever. I also understand that he has already said that he intends to open the code eventually.

The purpose of my post is just to create ways to open the code and still reach certain milestones:

1. Getting funding ($ $ $) to continue development for months or maybe years.

2. Disseminate DraStic. Hundreds of thousands of people would know it through the Humble Bundle. The "brand" DraStic would be marked as THE DS emulator for Android. DraStic would gain momentum, especially with the free software community by opening the code.

The question about third parties re-releasing DraStic on Google Play is almost impossible to solve. This can happen with ANY free software. It turns out that, from the moment that DraStic has hundreds of thousands of installations and milestone 2 I quoted above (disseminate) has been realized, it will not make sense for people to use copycats (especially if it becomes free on Google Play).

But the mindset has to be different (in my humble opinion): from the moment that the Bundle has earned thousands or millions of dollars for DraStic, we would have no such great concern with copycats.

It may just be me but drastic isn't actually a game as with most (all?) Humble bundle stuff. And hb guys might be wary of it even if exo did try to ask them. Emulators are legal, open source or not, but how it is used by user might not be.

[Exophase]

How exactly would I get it included in a Humble Bundle in the first place? They haven't included an emulator before and it really doesn't fit with a game bundle. Maybe if they did an all emulator bundle that'd be different...

As it is the userbase of the Android version right now is more or less pushing the limits of what I can attempt to support. If I make it free for whatever reason it'll be when I'm basically no longer prepared to offer any support at all. And whenever the source is open and it goes into unmitigated fork mode that'll mean I'm basically no longer prepared to try to maintain the source at all. Right now neither are exactly fair to the people who have paid so far, and there's a huge risk that if I do this too soon a big number of those people will demand their money back so they can get it for free like everyone else is.

[TiagoVeloso]

It may just be me but drastic isn't actually a game as with most (all?) Humble bundle stuff. And hb guys might be wary of it even if exo did try to ask them. Emulators are legal, open source or not, but how it is used by user might not be.

You're right. On the other hand, Humble Bundle have used soundtracks, books and, currently, even video comedies! See yourself: https://humblebundle.com. They are embracing many things. And they love to innovate and make "special editions". I think it's worth trying.

As a second option, I believe a traditional crowdfunding like Kickstarter or Indiegogo could also work.

[AsHperson]

It may just be me but drastic isn't actually a game as with most (all?) Humble bundle stuff. And hb guys might be wary of it even if exo did try to ask them. Emulators are legal, open source or not, but how it is used by user might not be.

You're right. On the other hand, Humble Bundle have used soundtracks, books and, currently, even video comedies! See yourself: https://humblebundle.com. They are embracing many things. And they love to innovate and make "special editions". I think it's worth trying.

As a second option, I believe a traditional crowdfunding like Kickstarter or Indiegogo could also work.

I think a big point Exophase made is, if people start getting it for free(or even discounted and, the point you made that free versions will be unavoidable if the source gets out of Exophase & Lordus's hands), everyone who got it in this first month of being released on Android is gonna demand a refund because this would make everyone feel bad, in turn would just drive a huge turn of negativity toward the brand name.