Please Add Mojang/Notch Attribution to Minecraft Server Source on GitHub

I know you guys are going to get stuff worked out with Mojang officially (I have read the threads), but until you get that resolved you should properly cite Mojang & Notch as the creators of the source code you have posted on GitHub here:

https://github.com/Bukkit/CraftBukkit/

The code is very obviously the official Minecraft server decompiled as evidenced by this random file I picked. You don't have to be a lawyer to know that slapping the LGPL license on code that you didn't create is the wrong thing to do. You need to get the explicit permission of every author of a piece of software before you can put a license on it.

I think doing this will stop well intentioned people from making crazy plans like a Gentoo source package including all of Notch's code without his permission.

An aside: I hope you guys get things sorted out with Mojang soon, but in my opinion any official sorting out will mean the end of the Bukkit API & CraftBukkit completely, because the conintued redistribution of the Minecraft source is just not going to happen. The awesome plugins will remain and the API will become official, but once the community can't hack on the server source I don't see how API development will continue.

EDIT: When I mean "the end of Bukkit API & CraftBukkit" I don't mean the code is tossed, or Bukkit dies. Just that the code becomes official, and the Bukkit project becomes just about plugins.

 

Heh, you make it sound like I was going to do this in spite of the legal implications. I did ask whether it was legal because if it was what it appeared to be, I couldn't believe they would have the audacity to put that code up on GitHub. I'm now more clued up on the situation and know that it is almost certainly not legal but I'm pleased to see the situation is gradually being resolved. Nevertheless, your request is justified. Trust me, I care about licensing as much as you do.

 

Well I hope something is "gradually being resolved" because usually anyone that points out "Hey guys, you probably shouldn't redistribute the Minecraft source, or relicense it". Are called non lawyer "scaremongers" and told that things are fine because it's somehow a "grey area".

From what I have seen I believe Bukkit team are figuring out how all their work can just be dropped into Minecraft and become the official API, I just hope they "clean up their act" in the meantime.
--- merged: Feb 1, 2011 6:46 PM ---
Just an update, 10 hours ago it appears Bukkit team properly attributed the mc-dev repo to Mojang. No such luck on the CraftBukkit repo yet.

 

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I did have a look around, this is a new idea. I am not harping on the license issues really, just asking that they at least cite Notch for the work he did. I am software developer myself so this stuff is important to me.

 

I can see your point, to do with giving recognition of who the code belongs to... But based on your original post, it is easy to assume you want Bukkit to be punished (Even though after re-reading it a few times, this probably isn't what you are trying to achieve).

The fact of the matter is, that some of the MineCraft devs have spoken with the Bukkit team (hence the post) and they know about Bukkit... But they have not initiated legal action and are being patient in working out a solution that suits everybody.

 

I don't want anyone punished I was actually shocked to see that they had essentially relicensed Minecraft. I think it's great that Notch is very cool about this and like I said I think the end game is Bukkit becoming the official modding API and project will shift to focus on cool plugins with that API.

 

Or, in the end Bukkit will become the official server mod, and Mojang won't need to put up any server version at all.

There are many ways this could go yet. I'm not going to worry about it myself though. Bukkit isn't the only server mod out there - there are many. Every single one of them is in the same position. However, I do agree with giving credit where its due for the code.

The discussion has generally boiled down to Mojang disliking client mods. Server mods seem to be handled differently within Mojang and the community. Notch has even twatted that he likes Bukkit.

tl;dr: Don't stress about it.

 

Note: This response if basically off topic for this post.

CraftBukkit is not a mod in the traditional sense, it's a modified version of the Minecraft server source code, which will soon become basically the entire Minecraft game (single player will be run with a local server). Bukkit itself does not work without that modified version of the Minecraft server. So only way Bukkit can continue is if Notch basically open sources Minecraft allowing for both Mojang programmers and Bukkit programmers to work on the same code base, which I don't think will happen.

Client side mods are discouraged because they could lead to easier griefing or hacking servers or the machines they run on.

tl;dr - CraftBukkit == unofficial fork of the private unreleased Minecraft server source, I don't think that is sustainable.

 

You're right, it could happen. The fact that Mojang has had a meeting already with the Bukkit devs (on all but licensing problems) I doubt that will become the reality though. The possibility is still there though. Mojang is entirely an indy dev company, and as such know that the community is what makes them popular. Doing as you say, and shutting them out of the loop entirely would be a terrible move on their part. Sure, you're right, they could do that. Would be a pretty huge public relations disaster though.

Also because the majority of what makes Minecraft the game it is today is held in the client code.

 

Still off topic here.

I am not sure this is true. The server contains all the game logic (crafting, monsters, vehicles, redstone, music blocks, etc.) and all the code to generate the new worlds, which is pretty much the whole game. The client needs is rendering and physics, which are really pretty generic components and not what makes Minecraft unique.

 

That's not entirely true. There is no way to add new items, mobs, etc in the server and have the client recognize it (this is why you have "SuperPickaxes" and "iStick" type items. They couldn't create a new one, so they re-use existing items). That stuff is held in the client itself. The code to generate new worlds is also held in the client, not just the server.

Yes, things will change. However, keep in mind, you can run a great many "dedicated" servers for games without needing the license for the game itself. (Look in your steam client under Tools - tons of dedicated servers you can run). Why does it need to be different for Minecraft?

 

So it doesn't appear any action has been taken on this front .

 

You Are Wrong.

Could someone close this thread?

 

None of those threads address the core issue: CraftBukkit contains Minecraft source yet claims to be basically an independent implementation of the Minecraft Server and applies an arbitrary license to code that can't be relicensed.

Heck, even the plugin authors in that thread are ignorant and don't realize CraftBukkit is basically a custom version of the official Minecraft server:

This is even partially acknowledged because soon after starting this thread the repo which only contains the Minecraft source changed to acknowledge that fact (This steal leaves the modified Minecraft server source in CraftBukkit unattributed):

 

Did you even read the first link? It clearly mentions that CraftBukkit is distributing MC code.

 

That post is an argument about the legality of what they are doing. My post is just asking them to acknowledge on github the origin of the code, so it doesn't create any confusion. I think it's pretty obvious that many people on here have no idea Bukkit uses a recompiled version of the original server, so it definitely won't hurt to make this a little more obvious.

 

I've just sat and read through this thread and only one thought came to my mind. What does any of this have to do with you? as has been mentioned bukkit and mojang are working to resolve the issue, if the issue was major mojang would ask for the code to be removed. You just come across as a self-important basement dweller with nothing better to do than give input on matters that do not concern you.

Just for sake of argument, why are you even still going on about this? you have mentioned yourself that on the bukkit git-hub acknowledgment has been given, so why still go on about it? on top of that, why do you want acknowledgment given on craftbukkit git-hub? my understanding is that bukkit is the api, craftbukkit utilizes it and thus contains no mojang code what-so-ever. (i may have it the wrong way round but im pretty certain only one contains any code from the official server)

Feel free to pick my post apart for spelling/grammar mistakes or whatever else will give you that feeling of superiority you long for.

tl;dr i find your personality annoying.

 

I am a Minecraft user, software developer, and FOSS fan, who has a little to much free time . Besides it's an interesting topic.

CraftBukkit is the modified Minecraft server source (see example here note the "CraftBukkit start/end" comments), and it has no acknowledgements. mc-dev is the raw Minecraft server source and it has acknowledgements.

Long explanation:
So Bukkit has two parts, a modified version of the official Minecraft server source CraftBukkit. This version fixes bugs and adds the hooks so that the second part of Bukkit, the Bukkit Plugin API, can actually function. When working with an external code base that you have a modified version of you should keep a clean copy of each version in source control. This lets you apply the updates the external developers make (in this case Mojang) to your custom version (in this case CraftBukkit). In the Bukkit project they keep this clean version in the mc-dev repo, which says that is Mojang's code. While the modified version, CraftBukkit, has no acknowledgements.

I would be the last person to do that, I don't translate my thoughts to text very cleanly. As long I can figure out what someone means I don't comment on any spelling or grammar issues. I don't feel superior to anyone here, I just understand how Bukkit works and what lines/laws they have walked all over (the "legal grey area"), and it seems like most people here don't.

 

yet with that entire post you did.

i appreciate the explaination not that it was needed or asked for as i had added to my post i was aware i may have been wrong about which implemented the code (and i will admit i have no understanding of the craftbukkit/bukkit git-hub so was understandably wrong about mojang code being in both) however you have still not explained what this has to do with you? even a mild interest in the subject would not give you the right to even request that bukkit properly attribute code to mojang (even if it is the right thing to do), as has been mentioned countless times, mojang and bukkit have had talks, do you not think that if it was an issue it would have been bought up and dealt with first? or is everybody incompetent except for you?

 

I have no rights in this at all your are correct, it's just being a software developer I like to encourage proper source code attribution and licensing. The honor system really works best for this kind of stuff, getting lawyers involved is just painful and expensive for everybody. So gently encouraging everyone to do the things the "right way" makes for a better software development ecosystem.

I am also unsure that Mojang actually knows/knew the extent to which Bukkit team has distributed the source to Minecraft. I get the impression that the Mojang team just works head down on their stuff and doesn't really involve themselves in the inner workings of how mods are run. The only meeting that has been mentioned discussed how a modding API would be introduced, they didn't "have lawyers present" so nothing about licensing was talked about.

 

i can't speak for mojang but i would be suprised if they did not, the reason i say this is that bukkit is the only dev team that i have heard about having talks with mojang, so mojang must be showing some interest. Now if this interest was due in part to the legalities of bukkit distrubution (since that was what the talk was originally planned for i imagine this was the case) and mojang not being happy, wanting the code removed, do you not think it would be treat with a bit more urgency than it has? i respect that you are encouraging proper licensing but i also respect that its an issue between bukkit and mojang and that if it was/is an issue it would/will be resolved.

 

I agree, it's is a more minor point now, but it's about attribution not licensing. Just making sure they properly attribute code. If you look at most open source projects they are very careful about this, they have headers on ever file saying it belongs to the project, who wrote that file, what the license is, and they make contributors agree to the current project's license. I am just prodding Bukkit to basically do the same.