GNU is actively developing Gnash, an open source Flash movie player distributed under the GPL license. Based on GameSWF, Gnash will eventually provide complete support for SWF version 7 compliant Flash movies. Implemented with OpenGL and libxml2, Gnash will be avilable as a standalone Flash player, and as a Firefox plug-in. In order to avoid any potential intellectual property conflicts, the Gnash developers are not using any Macromedia tools to facilitate faster development. Instead of reverse engineering Macromedia technologies, the Gnash developers are basing their implementation on the SWF specification.
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Member since:2005-11-14
That's not what they did, actually. If you read a little you'll find why gameswf was forked, and you'll also find that they will contribute fixes back to the gameswf project:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnash/2005-12/msg00000.html
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2005-10-18
Member since:2005-06-29
"Sounds pretty weird that they are forcing GPL on this program."
The GPL is not being forced on this project, it was already under the public domain and someone decided to use the existing code to found a new project, it's called forking. The original software is still under the same license it was under before, and no one can change that except the original copyright holder(s).
Member since:2005-06-29
Incorrect. No one can change that ... including the original copyright holders. You can't take back rights you already gave (certainly not putting it into the public domain, you might get away with a clause in your license saying you reserve the right to remove rights; but I sincerely doubt that'd hold up).
But you can always relicense your new code added to it! And you can always stop making the public domain code available in hopes it will be forgotten.
Member since:
2005-07-20
This based on gameswf which is in public domain. So GNU has basicly took a public domain program, relicensed it under GPL and renamed to Gnash. Sounds pretty weird that they are forcing GPL on this program.