Wasn't Halo stilled planned to be an RTS back when it was on Mac?

>since his code is itself a copyright violation.

Which is why it had a DMCA takedown notice sent against it and got the Bukkit project taken down.

It's unclear exactly what responsibility Mojang has for Bukkit. They hired some of the main developers, so maybe they meant in spirit? Or maybe they own the Bukkit name and its hosting. It's unclear how valid the license of the recent Bukkit releases over the parts of the Minecraft server code is.

Another unclear thing is whether the obfuscated decompiled Minecraft server code can be valid under the GPL. The GPL states "The 'source code' for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it." The obfuscated decompiled Minecraft server code is in fact what the Bukkit source is compiled against to make the CraftBukkit binary releases, though it's certainly not the original Minecraft developers' preferred form of working with it. Whose "preferred form" does the GPL refer to? Maybe the decompiled code could be argued to be the CraftBukkit developers' preferred from of working with if that is the only form they've worked with it. Though I've heard rumors that Mojang has provided the Bukkit team with source maps so they can make sense of the obfuscated decompiled code, and those source maps have never been in the repos. If the preferred form of working with the obfuscated Minecraft code includes those source maps, then Mojang relicensing the Minecraft code to GPL as it is in the Bukkit repo may not be enough.

Mojang has been promising their own modding API soon for years now. They've been relying on Bukkit's existence as a crutch without ever bothering to fix its legal situation, and Wolfe called them out for it. Hopefully this will get them to finally hurry up with their own official modding API now.

>The Wesley Wolfe developer wrote some code, distributed it via GPL but maintained copyright, thus implying that it is not GPL3.

GPL is a copyright license. That's how it works legally. If you release software under the GPL, you still own the copyright (unless you assign it to someone else, such as if you sign a contributor licensing agreement).

Mojang has been continuing to release Bukkit while not meeting the GPL. Wolfe is able to send a takedown notice against them for not following his copyright license.

>What this is should be a wake up call to making sure that you have an adequate exit play for players like Wesley Wolfe when they get their confused little non-legal minds in a snit.

Yeah, fuck people who release code under the GPL. /s

Are you saying that people who publish GPL code shouldn't be allowed to have the GPL enforced?

Bukkit is a project containing solely GPL code. CraftBukkit is a project that interfaces that code against decompiled Minecraft server code. Binary releases of CraftBukkit contain Bukkit code and decompiled Minecraft server code.

>MineCraft is decompiled, then de-obfuscated. Then cleaned up for use in Bukkit. Bukkit is GPL. The decompiled de-obfuscated code is GPL'd.

That last sentence is not true. Only Mojang can relicense the decompiled server code as GPL.

Distribution of CraftBukkit has always been violating both the GPL licenses of its contributors' code and the proprietary license of the Minecraft server code. Many have requested that Mojang relicense the Minecraft server code so that CraftBukkit could be made valid, but they never chose to. Recently, one of the main Bukkit developers stepped down and announced that the Bukkit project was ending. Then Mojang revealed that they "own" the Bukkit/CraftBukkit project (in name only; most of its code is still under the GPL) and were going to continue it. Wolfe decided to call them out on the fact that they never fixed the CraftBukkit licensing situation even after they bought it, and sent a takedown notice against CraftBukkit for the violation of the GPL license his code in Bukkit is under.

I don't think Wolfe or any of the other Bukkit volunteers have asserted that they should be paid for their Bukkit work, but some are annoyed that Mojang has claimed ownership of the project while never bothering to fix the legal situation of their code.

Wolfe chose to contribute his code under the GPL, and then sent the takedown when Mojang distributed his code in a way not meeting the GPL. If Wolfe chose the BSD license, he wouldn't have as much say to how Mojang distributed it.

Mojang has been distributing CraftBukkit, which contains Wolfe's GPL code compiled with decompiled Minecraft server code which is not under the GPL. Unless Mojang claims that the decompiled Minecraft server code is also GPL, then they're simply not following the GPL. Wolfe sent a takedown notice to make them stop or hopefully fix the situation.

CraftBukkit is a software distribution that combines Bukkit code with decompiled Minecraft server code. Bukkit is licensed under the GPL and Wolfe has code in it.

For some context to make Wolfe's actions make more sense: one of the main Bukkit developers stepped down (probably related to the fact he knew the Bukkit licensing was a timebomb) and said that the Bukkit project was being ended. Mojang then claimed that they owned the project (after hiring some of the developers years ago) and were going to continue it without him. People had tried to push Mojang to clarify/fix Bukkit's licensing for a long time, but Mojang never did. Wolfe sort of called them out for their hypocrisy of never fixing its licensing while they were increasingly relying on it.

>They've been working seriously on the API for the last year.

They've been promising the API soon for years now. Mojang has been leaning on Bukkit as a crutch. Now that they've been called out on it, maybe they'll finally hurry up with their official API.

Wolfe sent his takedown notice after Mojang asserted that they owned the Bukkit project and were going to continue it after one of the main Bukkit devs stepped down. You're right that Wolfe can't force them to do anything besides take it down.

If Mojang does actually want to continue the project and bring it back up, then they'll have to rewrite the GPL parts, negotiate with all the contributors, or release the Minecraft server under the GPL too.

>So you're saying Wolfe's code has been in the project for at least 2 years then, and he never made any shitstorm about it until the EULA (which was ALWAYS in place) started to be enforced?

A little more context: Mojang hired several of the main Bukkit developers (not including Wolfe). Following the EULA drama and the fact that some of the developers knew that the Bukkit licensing was fubar, some of the main Bukkit developers stepped down and declared that the Bukkit project was ending. In response, Mojang suddenly claimed that Bukkit was a Mojang project and said that it would be continued. Wolfe responded to Mojang's assertion of ownership by pointing out that they did not own his code and were distributing his code in violation of the GPL license he contributed it under.

The Bukkit licensing was always a timebomb, but no one was eager to set it off until Mojang claimed the project was theirs. *If* Mojang wants to continue Bukkit, they must rewrite all of the GPL parts, negotiate with all of the past contributors to relicense their GPL code, or relicense the Minecraft server code (which is also present in Bukkit) to be under the GPL too.

>And they are working on an official API project which will make Bukkit unneeded pretty seriously for the last two releases.

Mojang has been promising an official API is coming soon for the last several years now. Mojang has been leaning on Bukkit as a crutch. Now that they've been called on it, maybe Mojang will finally hurry up with their API.

Wolfe contributed code under the GPL license. He has every right to send takedown notices against distributions of his code that do not follow his license.