Bukkit: It's time to say ...

Discussion in 'Community News and Announcements' started by EvilSeph, Aug 21, 2014.

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    EvilSeph

    [​IMG]


    When we first set out to add our personal touch to what hMod offered the community 3 and a half years ago, none of us foresaw the success the Bukkit project would end up having. From a rocky start that wasn't of our own making (hMod suddenly disappeared without warning while we were just starting up the project, leaving us ill-prepared to fill the void left over), we stepped up to the challenge and managed to put together a usable, respectable alternative to other server mods. We even went so far as to improve on the Minecraft server itself. I can proudly and confidently say that Bukkit was and is a success: not only were we able to provide a platform for hundreds of thousands of Developers to build upon and make use of, we were also frequently providing our Server Admins with peace of mind knowing that the latest exploits and security holes were addressed in a timely and responsible manner.

    From the get go we were plagued with issues and obstacles we needed to overcome, one of which we were sadly unable to tackle despite our best efforts: the legal barrier of licensing and permission. When starting the Bukkit project and even getting involved with hMod before that, we all knew that our work - no matter how well-intentioned - fell into a dangerous legal grey area. As such, my first priority at the start was to do things right: contact Mojang to try and get permission to continue on with the project and discuss our licensing. Unfortunately, while we did get into contact with Mojang and managed to have a chat with Notch and Jeb themselves (who have said that they don't like our methods but understand that there isn't any alternative and are thus fine with what we were and are doing), we never did get an official meeting with their business side to get legally sound permission to continue as we were and were unable to sort out our licensing issues. To this day we find our project in limbo with a half-applied license some could argue is invalid and little power on our end to do anything about the situation.

    With that realisation came a nagging unease at the back of our minds that at any point in time Mojang could decide they didn't like what we were doing and shut us down - something we were all expecting for the first year or so of the project's life but, to our surprise, never occurred. Naturally, Mojang's conscious decision to not take action on our project gave us the confidence to continue on (something which I'm sure Server Admins out there can relate to given the recent, sudden and unexpected EULA enforcement) and we even later got further confirmation from Notch himself that we were and are allowed to keep proceeding as we always had.

    Fast forward to more recent times and Mojang have made the abrupt and sudden decision to start enforcing their EULA in an effort to quell the outlook of Minecraft being pay to win. While I can completely understand where they are coming from and support their mission to shut down pay to win servers, it's difficult to be supportive of their abrupt turn-around with enforcing rules they consciously decided not to enforce since the start of Minecraft. On top of this, there are also clauses - which it would be irresponsible of us not to be aware of - within the now suddenly enforced EULA that directly affect the Bukkit project.

    Most notably: "The one major rule is that you must not distribute anything we've made". While the EULA does go on to try and clarify what is meant by "anything we've made", I feel that it only serves to confuse the situation even more so. At the end of the day, it seems that Mojang can determine what is a "mod, plugin or hack" of their game on the fly and their recent abrupt turn-around on enforcing the EULA has us understandably worried. Couple this with the fact that it isn't legally viable or acceptable to enforce the EULA piecemeal and our future is clear.

    At this point in time, I think it's safe to say that it's no longer worth it for us to put up a fight when it comes to keeping Bukkit and modding alive. With large and significant changes coming in Minecraft 1.8 that we'll be hard pressed to provide support for and the lack of support from Mojang with updates since acquiring our original core team (Mojang used to provide us with mappings to speed up the update process), there is little motivation for us to continue limping on across various aspects of the project. From a project management standpoint, it's become increasingly difficult to find willing and able individuals to help out the project on a purely voluntary basis due to people losing interest in Minecraft or people looking for something more. Simply put, this was ultimately the final nail in the coffin.

    Nonetheless, no one can deny that we've had a fantastic run as a project. This is due in no small part to the support we received and continue to receive from both the Minecraft community and the many companies and organisations that have graciously chosen to support us with a ridiculous amount of resources, infrastructure and backing - far more than we could have ever asked for. No amount of words can adequately express the gratitude we have for all our sponsors who have supported us through our journey and ensured Bukkit had the infrastructure required to be the vast success it is today. To list all of what these sponsors have done for us would be a post equal in length to this one, so we will unfortunately need to keep it brief. We want to give huge shout-outs and thanks to: eXophase.com for getting us off our feet and hosting us at the start; Multiplay and Curse for swooping in and providing us with (emergency) hosting we continue to use to this day including dl.bukkit.org and our BukkitDev service; as well as AllGamer for providing us test servers whenever we needed a server to certify update and promoted builds or attempt to reproduce a bug report.

    Last, but definitely not least, we'd like to thank the many staff, both past and present, that have volunteered countless hours over the years. I am at a loss for words to express just how much these people have meant to the project and to myself. The core team who have constantly worked hard to update to every new Minecraft version, while adding in new API and improving the server itself. The BukkitDev staff who spend countless hours checking over the fantastic plugins our community creates. Our moderation staff keeping our forums orderly and safe for all people seeking out a great community to be a part of. Additionally, the many unsung people who have helped in various ways despite having no official title, simply because there was work to do. Finally, my administrators, who have tirelessly helped me keep the project functioning as a whole. I would especially like to thank TnT and mbaxter for sticking through it with me to the end, always ready to discuss an issue and provide me with advice.

    It's been a fantastic 3 and a half years of providing what we believe to be the absolute best modding platform for the wonderful Minecraft community to use. We really enjoyed seeing the amazing feats our many Developers and Server Admins achieved with the product we provided and continue to be amazed every day at the ingenuity our community shows. Thanks for everyone's continued support! It has and will continue to mean the world to us. Together we were able to provide a Minecraft server used by hundreds of thousands of servers out there (with our last Recommended Build having over 2.6 million downloads!), which is certainly something to be proud of and a great note to end on.

    This is the end, it's time to say goodbye. It's been an amazing run and we achieved much more than anyone thought was possible, even ultimately culminating in Mojang hiring our original core team. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and the Bukkit project has run its course, leaving me to make one final - incredibly difficult - decision to shut down the project I’ve poured 3 and a half years of my life into which means so much to me. We're no longer able to confidently distribute our modified versions of the Minecraft server and it is no longer smart for us to continue with our update process. Sadly, this means we will NOT be updating Bukkit nor CraftBukkit for Minecraft 1.8 and, since Minecraft 1.7.10 introduced the EULA enforcement, we will be placing the project under a code freeze for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, due to obvious legal reasons we will not be helping anyone else complete any updates nor sharing our methods despite any desire to the contrary. Although the project itself will essentially be no more, we'll continue to support our community, the forums, IRC and BukkitDev as long as we are able and as long as our partners support us with the resources and infrastructure to do so.

    As for us? Well, who knows? Maybe we'll find another game, program or project to be passionate about and we'll be back with a vengeance? Only time will tell, but I hope that we'll see you around the next passion-project of ours when it happens :)


    [lukegb]There's more to come on this. Please read this for more information about where we stand.[/lukegb]
     
  2. Offline

    Formula350

    Being a native speaker of American-English for 31 years, I can safely say I have never heard of it used in a way to call into question someone's intellect. Primarily because even brilliant people can do something stupid that might later result in a situation that qualifies the usage of the phrase; however, I think it's fair to say that doing something stupid does not imply that they are in fact lacking in intelligence, or as you are claiming, that they are in some way inept.

    To be honest, I'll be totally fair to both parties, as his usage is totally incorrect as well. In actuality it appears to be a simple word choice oopsie:
    "When EvilSeth dropped the ball that Bukkit would no longer produce current CraftBukkit builds"
    It seems to me that he intended to use the phrase "dropped the bomb", given it fits the context far better. Either way, even if he didn't mean that instead, I still didn't get the impression he was using it as you are implying. *shrug*
     
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    Gufumpsie

    I hope people don't just ignore this and wait for mojang to start doing mods. i hope that people try to do something about this. some type of boycott or something idk, just not sitting around while good people who are part of a good project just go away.
     
  4. Offline

    chuck4100

    so confused. Guessing this means minecraft is dead? I know I stopped playing about 8 months after it came out and would never have started again if vanilla was all there was.

    Don't think a boycott is necessary, like it was for me, i'm sure alot of peoples interest was in the ability to run and play servers with plugins and mods. no more of those servers... well, if mojang hasn't made bukkit vanilla 2 years ago, then they will just continue to be slow and forever behind their players/community.
     
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    Reddeh

    Notch doesn't even run Minecraft anymore.
     
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    MrGussio

    Didn't saw this coming.

    I know it's a bit late, but thanks for the last 3 years of Bukkit.

    <3
     
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    PDXTony

    Bukkit is not done. That was stated by Mojang since they own Bukkit and want it to continue
    Right now everyone needs to take a deep breath and calm down about what is going on in the larger community.

    IMO the real problem is Mojang is moving from Indie to big company attitude and that is freaking people out.
    They are lacking in the public relations area and information about things like their DMCA policies, the news about talks with Microsoft ect are causing the community to go nuts with speculation. As a result Mojang is being reactive instead of proactive.
    They are entering a transition in the business sense and need to be hyper aware and alert to what path they are on.
    Getting into bed with MS? bad idea regardless of the control they think they might have they wont. MS lawyers are better and strong and with deeper pockets than Mojang (governments have a hard time dealing with MS)
    Mojang might be just covering their bases with the DMCA or might go aggressively hunting people down (the real fear I think) and bully people into submission,
    In all I think Mojang needs to get a serious PR dept and get ahead of this wave of paranoia,
     
  8. Offline

    capobase

    Hi guys, i understand that you cant distribute the new builds because mojang dont allow you but why you dont make something like forge where we download the original file and then we combine it with your part. Or better why you dont join the forge team or try to improve it. If you dont solve this i will have to do it
     
  9. Offline

    JWhy

    capobase: The event that caused the removal of CraftBukkit's binaries and code base wasn't Mojang's license change, but the DMCA takedown request. Actually Mojang doesn't seem to enforce their copyright against the redistribution and modification (CraftBukkit, Forge, etc.) of their material (the server core in this context). A concept like CraftBukkit (modified server jarfile) is still considered a good option for a server API, there's already a promising looking successor of Craft-/Bukkit
     
  10. Offline

    rtainc

    I see you have stumbled upon
    Code:
    [Server/INFO]: Starting Minecraft 1.7.10, Raft v1
     
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    Krijn

    Bye Bukkit. I'll never forget you. :'( Thanks for all the hard work.
     
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    Dinobam100

    u cant leave! who is gonna upgrade my fav server on mc! this cant be happening. whoever bought it (i didnt read the text well but i think its wolfy) must give it back! this cant be the end for minecraft!
     
  13. Offline

    JWhy

    Please don't mix up facts. Bukkit isn't Minecraft nor did Wolvereness buy Minecraft. He claimed his intellectual property right, likely because Mojang aquired parts of the Bukkit project. There are new approaches for providing an API (and thus plugin support) for Minecraft servers, and some (!) time later there might be an official API
     
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    Markcrafter1

    Please let this be a joke. PLEASE!!
    If not: Thanks. Thanks for all the amazing content you created in the 3 1/2 year!! :( :)

    ~Markcrafter1
     
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    Lego_Dude999

    Do you think bukkit will ever be back :( how are we supposed to make servers now!
     
  16. Amm.... Well, I would suggest trying spigot. It doesn't mean I support it, but the found a way around this. They released binary patches (which do not contain copyrighted code) for their latest released build (1649 I think) so they will soon release a working 1.8 version. However, in order to upgrade, you must already have the 1649 spigot build, and there's no legal way of obtaining it anew so this only works for people who were using spigot even before all this madness.
     
  17. Offline

    Condolent

    When will we be able to download the last API again?
     
  18. I think this is illegal but you may search on sites such as TPB. (strongly discourage)
     
  19. Offline

    JWhy

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    Jaiguru

    I want you to know you guys were EVERYTHING good about Minecraft. You WERE Minecraft. I'm heart broken that this is the end, and extremely bitter about how it went down. Microsoft, and the Minecraft "brand"...ugh...shall receive not a penny from me.

    I'm 32 years old, 33 next month. I've lived through the golden age of gaming. I've had the enormous privilege of being in that special position where the industry matured as I matured and largely at the same pace. I enjoyed childish fun on the nes. I got my first taste of faster paced gaming and the occasional swear on the SNES and Genesis. The N64/PSx generation brought us the likes of FF7 with its melodramitic corniness that hits just right to a young teenager's raw point of view on life. For me, the PC and GC/Xbox/PS2 generation brought gaming into the adult's lexicon with deep experiences and complex gameplay that pushed boundaries and redefined story telling in the medium.

    But Minecraft was unique. Thanks to craftbukkit and all of your hard work I think of these last years since hm0d vanished as probably the most fun I've had with the hobby. You've given me countless hours of enjoyment. You've given me the drive I needed to explore networking myself. The features these mods and craftbukkit gave my servers allowed me to attract unique people to my corner of the minecraftverse and the opportunity to get to know new friends.

    I consider Mojang, and Notch's duplicitous behavior in particular to be a personal attack for what they did to you, and by association me. They may have been within their rights, but they proved all that mouthing off was just hot air without substance. YOU, craftbukkit and the wonderful mod builders, were Minecraft to me and I am so very grateful to you for that.
     
    daboross, DSH105, mbaxter and 9 others like this.
  21. Offline

    Neriesta

    And finnaly mojang did it! They F*CKT UP this wonderfull game!
    The EULA was their first mistake.... now bukkit closed down...
    And the worst part... mojang is sold to microsoft

    Al this together wil stop the biggest servers and the small ones nothing will be the same from now on...

    Even in a game, humanity destroys their own god.

    I thank Notch again for this wonderfull game idea and i will pray for minecraft's comeback...
     
  22. Offline

    buckwild307

    Theres that new Cubition game they could use some help.
     
  23. Didi you even read this? I can assure you large servers won't shutdown as long as this still works. So please, stop writing dramatic things... It's not the end! (yet...)
     
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    ThaWolfBrah

    This is very sad to hear, I don't know what the future of bukkit would be I am very sad if they decide to discontinue but I would be happy to help if there is anything you need, thank you to the members of staff that have resigned this week..You have all done an amazing job and I salute!.
     
  25. Offline

    Noorc1

    jeb_ Notch I would like to say that with you not helping out bulk it the game Minecraft itself will not be played as much because of how people like to play the game you have not only destroyed the aspects in which the people liked the game but you have also destroyed it for the server admins therefore less people will play the game as well as create servers. I will also like to say that if there is anyway possible in helping out the bukkit team and co - operating with them to create the ultimate servers you will not only get more people wanting to play Minecraft but also more people having fun and enjoying the game for what it is best for. Yours sincerely Noorc1 (Noor) (please send this to anyone in the Minecraft ranks)
     
  26. Offline

    darkwolf706

    Guys, this says absolutely nothing about the future. We know they all quit, thats all we know. They might still be updating it after 1.8!
     
  27. You don't have to release bukkit as a ready made server file, you can make it a server mod for people to install and use!
    :cool:
    [​IMG]
     
  28. Offline

    JWhy

    Okay? The packaging as a .jar didn't cause the DMCA takedowns.
     
  29. Offline

    meganflips11

    so bukkit is done? 1.8 isn't coming out? Sry I didn't quite understand everything [couldn't find the forms] Does this mean all running bukkit servers will be forced to close?!
     
  30. Offline

    railguy_

    meganflips11 Not necessarily, however for now they cannot release a 1.8 version of Bukkit due to the DMCA. Until those legal matters have been resolved or another API steps forward server owners will just have to wait to update.
     
  31. Offline

    saud4003

    spigot is still running :/
     
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