megazeux.lha game/megazeux - Comments

ajs (195.149.44.6) @ 20 Jul 2008, 11:21.54

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:21:54 +0200

By: ajs (195.149.44.6)

Thanks both for your response. I'm sorry I was unfriendly initially, it's just I
thought I was seeing the kind of attitude I get a lot of the time with people
distributing changed versions of MegaZeux.

I did try to email you spotUP, at the address spot_@hotmail.com which I assume
you no longer use. This email address was somewhere inside the MegaZeux
distribution, possibly in one of your text NFO files, so you might want to
update it.

I'll drop you an email with specifics about the AmigaOS 4 port ASAP, I really am
keen to get it well supported upstream. This kind of support probably rarely
happens with packages on Amiga OS 4 due to its obscurity, but I have no qualms
with doing builds for it as regularly as other platforms.

Thanks again.

spotUP (85.228.116.210) @ 20 Jul 2008, 11:17.39

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:17:39 +0200

By: spotUP (85.228.116.210)

uh .... wow... this has really blown out of proportions.
AJS please contact me via mail and i'll happily help you out.

I'll upload the sources now just for the hell of it, but as I said,
I didn't really change anything.

I can't remember now, but some file paths was it mostly.

Enjoy the source. And as I said, contact me via mail and i'll help you out.

salass00 (83.102.108.87) @ 20 Jul 2008, 08:29.12

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:29:12 +0200

By: salass00 (83.102.108.87)

Why don't you just e-mail SpotUp and explain that you have never used AmigaOS
before, and he'll probably be able to help you more. From your first comment he
probably (same as I did) that you had at least some basic knowledge about how
the OS works from using it.

His e-mail is on the readme page you just need to deobfuscate it by replacing
'/' with '@' and ' ' with '.'. I'm sure he will be more than willing to help
you. You'll probably get a faster reply that way, plus this file comment feature
is not really meant to be used for long discussions like this.

I can tell you this much though:

The PFP.exe isn't really needed so you could remove it if you want, just make
sure you also remove the line from the MegaZeux file (script file which sets a
high enough stack, sets up some assigns, and runs MegaZeux.exe, which is the
executable file).

Without the USR:/ETC: assigns users will be presented with requesters asking for
volumes USR: and ETC: upon running MegaZeux. AmigaOS does not have automatic
stack enlargening or memory protection so setting a large enough stack from the
beginning is very important.

ajs (195.149.44.6) @ 19 Jul 2008, 11:02.52

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:02:52 +0200

By: ajs (195.149.44.6)

These are what I believe were the changes necessary to port to AmigaOS. I can't
confirm either way, because I never received the source code to the binaries
hosted here. I also cannot test the result.

http://mzx.devzero.co.uk/junk/amiga-port.diff

anonymous (195.149.44.6) @ 19 Jul 2008, 11:02.45

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:02:45 +0200

By: anonymous (195.149.44.6)

These are what I believe were the changes necessary to port to AmigaOS. I can't
confirm either way, because I never received the source code to the binaries
hosted here. I also cannot test the result.

http://mzx.devzero.co.uk/junk/amiga-port.diff

anonymous (195.149.44.6) @ 19 Jul 2008, 10:55.33

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:55:33 +0200

By: anonymous (195.149.44.6)

Please actually read the GPL before trying to tell somebody what it means. I
have explicitly requested the source, and he has explicitly told me he will not
give it to me because "he didn't change much". This VIOLATES the terms of the
license, and hosting the binaries on this site is therefore illegal. In the
binary package there is NO link to the source code, nor any offer of source
code. This breaks the terms of the license.

To be honest, I don't want to get into the license. It's moot at this point. The
binaries exist here already, and I'm not going to kick up a fuss about somebody
porting MegaZeux. What I'm concerned about, with an email and apparently
multiple comments here ignored, is what happens in the future. I want to be able
to create packages for AmigaOS 4 in the future, so that I can continue to
provide the latest version when I release it. It simply doesn't make any sense
to keep this information proprietary to Spot or this website. I suspect, like
many of the packages on here, that 2.82 will rapidly fall out of date and not be
updated. Please help me make sure this doesn't happen.

I already know that source code changes were necessary, but I'm actually not
interested in this (I've already re-implemented them). The information I want
are details of the distribution (listed in my previous comment). How do I create
the scripts and workbench icons to add polish to the binaries, without access to
Amiga OS 4?

Unfortunately, answers to these questions are not provided by your links.

salass00 (83.102.108.87) @ 19 Jul 2008, 08:52.37

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:52:37 +0200

By: salass00 (83.102.108.87)

The GPL only requires you to provide source code on request to those people who
have received copies of said binary and does allow anyone to distribute compiled
binaries either for free or for a fee. You should have thought of that before
choosing this license.

I doubt that SpotUp has made any changes to the source code. He knows how to use
configure and make but he's no programmer.

A .info file on AmigaOS is just an icon image file, a bit like a .ico file on
windows but contains some more info like f.e. if the file is tool (executable)
or a project (data file) and what should happen when it's doubleclicked.

Some useful links:
http://os4depot.net/index.php?function=showfile&file=document/manual/spots-pfd.t
xt
http://cross.zerohero.se/os4.html
ftp://ftp.hyperion-entertainment.biz/AmigaOS4_SDK/SDK_51.22.lha

Likely the c library used is -mcrt=newlib (needs to be specified at both compile
and link stages) and probably linked with -lunix for unix style path support.

ajs (195.149.44.6) @ 19 Jul 2008, 02:01.50

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:01:50 +0200

By: ajs (195.149.44.6)

I know about the official source, I'm the maintainer of MegaZeux. You took our
program and you illegally distributed binaries of it, without providing source
code. You should have provided source separately or inside this package.

For me to maintain an OS4 version (which surely you care about) I need
information on building a distribution in the future. For example, the .info
file is a binary blob and has nothing to do with the compilation of MZX itself.
How do you build it?

What compiler did you use? Did you do a clib2 or newlib build? Which SDL did you
use? What is "pfp.exe"? What is the "Megazeux" script in the top level
directory?

If you think the information you've given me so far is enough to go on, you must
be joking.

spot (85.228.116.210) @ 09 Jul 2008, 02:12.13

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:12:13 +0200

By: spot (85.228.116.210)

i didn't change much, that's why the sources ain't there.
use the official source if you want to maintain it.

ajs (195.149.44.6) @ 30 Jun 2008, 09:57.17

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:57:17 +0200

By: ajs (195.149.44.6)

I'm a total newbie when it comes to Amiga development, but I would appreciate it
if you could make the sources for this modification available for others to
build, in compliance with the terms of the license.

I would be very interested in maintaining an Amiga port (at least by cross
compiling it) if possible :-) Thanks.

Xeron (90.204.88.40) @ 18 Jun 2008, 09:42.29

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:42:29 +0200

By: Xeron (90.204.88.40)

Hah.. great :)

BTW, there was a demo released at Block Party that runs in Megazeux. Just
extract this to Megazeux/Games/ and select the .mzx file in megazeux:

http://www.scene.org/file_dl.php?url=ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/parties/2008/blockp
arty08/demo/megademo-zx-madbrain.zip&id=501937