What's Wrong With Sorcerer?

Several things.

While the sole coder that works on the package managment system for Sorcerer GNU/Linux is among the finest bash scripters that I've known, he tends to make RADICAL changes overnight that often result in every Sorcerer box aside from his own (the one that he tests on, that is to say) to completely take a shit. I don't mean a little two-floater. I mean a full-on six flushes and a jug-o-drano. So why is he the only coder, and why does development not happen as it does with most OSS projects?

The license. I don't care if this is the way that anybody else remembers things ... I know what I perceived as happening when the fit hit the shan. A while after Sorcerer experienced a rather substantial slashdotting, people started to become annoyed for much the same reasons that I am. Things were changing radically overnight, shit was breaking, fire and brimstone, cats sleeping with dogs, et cetera. Since everything was licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License at that point, some of those that were hollaring the loudest about the problems basically told the sole coder to fuck off ... they were going to fork the codebase and take off running with thier own distro. It was originally called Lunar Penguin, but it's been shortened to just Lunar nowadays. So what happened?

Aforementioned sole coder seemingly went batshit. Nuked any trace of SGL and put up a nasty note in its place that explained that anybody that ever forks a codebase should roughly fuck off and die. Where did this leave the folks that did not run off with the coder's code?

In the shitter. What happens when you find yourself neck deep in feces? You dig your way out. Thus, the community-driven Sorcerer GNU/Linux was born. Why did they keep the name?

Because it didn't look like the sole coder was ever going to work on a public project again (and they were right, to a degree). However, a few weeks later, the original Sorcerer website reappeared, except that the distro had been renamed to just Sorcerer. As a sign of respect for the original coder, the "new" SGL renamed itself ... it became Sourcemage GNU/Linux. What kind of response did that garner from the original coder?

He went batshit again. He didn't understand in the least why nobody would want to be involved with a project developed by a sole coder that has a tendency to throw temper tantrums, take his ball, and go the fuck home. Though I stuck around with the original coder, I really can't say that I blame them in the least. Why not?

They were Free. That is to say, the code that they were hacking on, though not the latest and greatest codebase, was released under a Free Software license (GPL) that allowed just about anybody that they saw fit to help out to do so in a fairly unencumbered way. What did those of us that stuck around out of principle get?

A concrete dildo, wrapped in barbed wire, straight up the ass. We got the SPL (I would post a link, except that there is no way to get a copy of the license, so far as I can tell, without actually downloading the software that it covers ... and there is NO mention of it on the Sorcerer website proper) (actually, I did stumble over it today ... which is the only way that one would find it, since there is no link to it ... there is on this page right here, though). This is a non-free software license that basically states that we can't do a fucking thing with the code that we're using. Not only that, but if we do actually write anything to improve the code in question, we MAY NOT distribute our changes as part of a full codebase ... only as patches. That's balls, it sucks, and it's certainly no way to treat the people that have proved loyal to you. So why am I so pissed?

I like Free software. I don't mean junk that I don't have to pay for ... sure, that helps, but it's not the kind of "free" that I'm referring to in this case. I enjoy having the freedom to fuck around with something as I see fit and give it away, much as it was given to me, as a means of expressive service. I get to express myself through the changes that I make, and I get to perform a service for anybody that thinks that my way of doing things in a particular situation might be the way to go. As it stands now, there is no chance of me making any alterations to the sorcery (the package management system for Sorcerer) code base, as I may eventually wish to write some Free software that fits the same purpose. Why would having worked on the code base be bad? Because then it would easily be assumed by the original coder that I drew some if not all of my ideas for my Free software from his non-free software. Thusly, I'd be bound to the terms of his license, the SPL, and that is complete balls. Feel free to comment if this doesn't make any fucking sense, as I'm fairly certain that it may not.

I'm not trying to advocate the forking of a code base, but stranger (and far harsher) things do happen. That is one of the prices that one must pay for decent code ... if you are not willing to accept that somebody might not like the way that you do things, you should seriously consider the viability of your project and its relationship to the close-knit community that you are going to derive (as you're never going to win over a large community with asspirate-like licensing terms).

Bet you're glad you read this.