Licensing and Distribution Question

[idlemind]

I have been watching Dark Star over the past year or two. I am curious if the project could benefit from a more stable or easy client setup process.

I reviewed even the latest stuff but it all includes several steps. Also in reading the licensing agreements it seems pretty strict on having PlayOnline (Viewer) involved but it seems that for "our" purposes it is only used to update the game using the check files function. Although it is relatively easy to follow it may put off potential users of the project.

• Is it possible / Would it be acceptable to provide a centrally controlled client installation that was preset to launch the FFXI client and connect to a Darkstar server based on user inputted values for server, username and password (with a checkbox to remember entered values)? (possibly distributed through a torrent or magnet to avoid pulling all that data from one server very slowly)

• Also what is the licensing stand point of the Dark Star project? It has been around plenty long enough for you to be noticed by SE, have they tried to set some ground rules with you or threaten shutdown?

Suggesting a centralized client I understand can raise some eyebrows from a security perspective but I really think a large portion of users would generally agree that a much simplified client installation would be a nice improvement. We could also look at providing a list of the files included and where they came from (version of SE release and a checksum) so that they could be verified if a user so desired.

[whasf]

The "centralized client" sounds like more of a pain to maintain than it's worth. Maybe the instructions could be cleaned up, but overall it's pretty simple. I think effort would be better focused on automating the installation? All you really have to watch out for is the DATA folder trick, after all that it's in POL to update the client.

As far as licensing goes, no news is good news. We try to maintain a pretty good disconnect by not linking to downloads, using copyrighted images, or providing basic support to get it up and working. Bascially we are 'hands off': here is the code, if it happens to compile into something you can connect to and use then you're lucky