Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection • Hacker News Board

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#51

Post by stormbrew » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 11:53 PM UTC

TheDong wrote: post #35

merb wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how does it work when the copyright is unknown or what happens if a company/trademark folded (that might have held the copyright) does the company who reastablishes the brand get the ip?! I mean if the game was published under Sierra Entertainment 19xx and the company folded, is it still legally unforceable, even if the new company is now activision?

If a copyright owner dies (without their IP being inherited) or the company dies (and its ip is not sold or kept by some individual of the company), then the material effectively enters the public domain. Note, this is only 'effectively' because it is still possible someone does have the IP and you were simply not aware. It's also possible the person who owns the copyright isn't even aware they own it, but it can sti…

I mean, the government choose the term. So it actually is their fault if people don't live to see the end of the term, even if the human lifespan itself is not their fault.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#52

Post by afarah » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 11:55 PM UTC

subway wrote: post #16

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And public suffers just a little more under greed and selfishness. I don't know if "I don't have a copy of King's Quest 3 source code" counts as suffering.

The public suffers anytime knowledge is lost.

Such as with IP law.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#53

Post by pdpi » Fri, Nov 30, 2018, 11:57 PM UTC

gisely wrote: post #20

subway wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The public suffers anytime knowledge is lost.

Will the public suffer from not knowing what this comment said a century from now?

This comment in isolation? Maybe not. This whole conversation? It's certainly informative — from it, you can read a lot into the feelings about conservationism within this community. There's some form of value to be had from that.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#54

Post by ChrisLomont » Sat, Dec 01, 2018, 12:07 AM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #49

paxy wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct me if I'm wrong but he can't legally sell these disks then right (at least before wiping them first)?

He can, he just can't make copies of them. It's like selling an used book. In the US, it's called the First-sale doctrine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine

He may not have such rights. It’s unlikely he was legally allowed to have this copy of the code; he likely just kept the copy because he felt like it.

If the copyright owner didn’t sell/transfer/contract this to him, he basically has a stolen copy.

I do wish this copy is legally transferable; I suspect it is not.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#55

Post by ngneer » Sat, Dec 01, 2018, 12:14 AM UTC

I remember my father taking me to see the Sierra offices, right by Coarsegold, CA. They were closed, but it was a fun trip, given how happy those games made my childhood. I know I am not the only one here.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#56

Post by CobrastanJorji » Sat, Dec 01, 2018, 12:16 AM UTC

glwtta wrote: post #48

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #11

Hrm....he says he hasn't tested it, but there was a remake of the game, and Lowe supposedly worked with them on it. You'd think they'd have jumped to at least examine the original source. Or maybe they explicitly decided not to check if the IP rights were owned by a different company than the one that owned the copyright for the code itself.

Why would they? Code from 1987 is of exactly zero interest to someone developing a game in 2013.

It's a text command driven game, isn't it? Getting an encyclopedic listing of all of the different text that the original recognized would be most easily handled by reading it from the original code.

I suppose just examining the original media might have been enough. Or maybe they abandoned that command style? I didn't play the remake.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#57

Post by rhizome » Sat, Dec 01, 2018, 12:21 AM UTC

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #37

all2 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Already massive amounts of data have been lost to the grind of technology forging 'forward'. As we lose the information, we lose context, and without context 'facts' about the past begin to lose meaning to the present reader. History, and the stories we have, is/are mankind's most important asset. Without the context of our past as a species, we lose the ability to navigate into the future effectively (without c…

I think that raises an interesting problem - if you want to look back 1000 years the sources are scarce, and largely composed of the thoughts of the educated or the wealthy - people who could read and write and store these items. 500 years from now we're going to be faced with a totally different problem - if a user wants to learn about the year 2018 where do they start? Official documents will appear to be stored be…

"Beatles 3000" is my go-to reference here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z2vU8M6CYI

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#58

Post by hobs » Sat, Dec 01, 2018, 12:26 AM UTC

all2 wrote: post #31

gisely wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will the public suffer from not knowing what this comment said a century from now?

Yes. Already massive amounts of data have been lost to the grind of technology forging 'forward'. As we lose the information, we lose context, and without context 'facts' about the past begin to lose meaning to the present reader. History, and the stories we have, is/are mankind's most important asset. Without the context of our past as a species, we lose the ability to navigate into the future effectively (without c…

As have more and more information the context is loss anyway, we cant glean it from the noise, and even if we could most of us wouldnt care about it anyway, we are busy making our own context.

The fact that we cant access some old software is not a loss akin to forgetting our enslavement of others, and really we need no such memory, we enslave people today.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#59

Post by behringer » Sat, Dec 01, 2018, 12:30 AM UTC

gisely wrote: post #20

subway wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The public suffers anytime knowledge is lost.

Will the public suffer from not knowing what this comment said a century from now?

Yes. A lot can be gained from reading any projects source code. This stuff is just as valuable today as it was when it was written. A programmer would learn a lot by reading this source code.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#60

Post by gknight » Sat, Dec 01, 2018, 12:41 AM UTC

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #56

glwtta wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they? Code from 1987 is of exactly zero interest to someone developing a game in 2013.

It's a text command driven game, isn't it? Getting an encyclopedic listing of all of the different text that the original recognized would be most easily handled by reading it from the original code. I suppose just examining the original media might have been enough. Or maybe they abandoned that command style? I didn't play the remake.

It was a remake of a remake, actually.

In 1991, they remade the original Leisure Suit Larry to be a traditional point-and-click adventure game. It's referred to as Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards or just Leisure Suit Larry 1 VGA. The modern-day remake was an update of the point-and-click version.