2004.01_Projects-Free Software and Its Makers.pdf

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Free Software Projects

Projects on the Move

Free software covers such a diverse

range of utilities, applications and

other assorted projects, that it can be

hard to find the perfect tool from all

that programming effort. As the

range increases so rapidly, you occa-

sionally need a little help to make

your choice. We pick the best of the

bunch for you: the Icculus Project, the

Linux Theme Day, news from Debian,

and about the Debian Installer.

BY MARTIN LOSCHWITZ

T his month’s Projects on Move will

gaming area. And one of them, Ryan C.

Gordon, a.k.a. “Icculus”, has taken it

upon himself to port Windows games to

Linux, founding the Icculus Project in

the process to do so. He co-ordinates this

work via the Icculus Web site [2]. Ryan

has quite a lot of support from software

manufacturers, who supply him with

game sources provided he signs the

appropriate “non-disclosure agree-

ments”. So it seems that software game

manufacturers are not totally disinter-

ested in Linux.

To facilitate the port, Ryan Gordon

leverages the fact that most game manu-

facturers separate their executables from

sound, graphic, and texture data. The

executable run by the player is only

responsible for connecting the various

parts of the game. In other words, the

graphic, sound, and texture files do not

need to be ported. This also allows Ryan

to publish his results on the Internet; a

binary is useless without the appropriate

data files, and so anyone wanting to run

the game on Linux will need to buy the

original version first. The disadvantage

of this method is that gamers will be

required to have a Windows installation

to be able to copy their data files to a

Linux directory.

Ryan’s biggest task so far follows a dif-

ferent pattern: it is a Linux port of

“America’s Army”. The original game,

which was supported by the Pentagon,

only runs on Windows, and is designed

to introduce the US Army to civilians.

America’s Army is available on the Inter-

net, and this allows Ryan to publish his

port including the data files, thus avoid-

ing the Windows detour. The Linux port

of the game is compatible to the Win-

dows version, allowing Windows and

Linux gamers alike to compete in net-

worked games. For real gaming pleasure

you will need a fast video adapter with

hardware accelerator. Ryan Gordon has

created another port of America’s Army

in the meantime: the game now runs on

Mac OS X.

Ryan’s list does not consist entirely of

games; the accompanying server pro-

grams also need to be ported. Game

manufacturers again tend to create Win-

Icculus

Linux has not managed to make any

notable inroads in the gaming area,

despite its advances on the desktop. The

operating system is still hampered by the

reputation it has, as being unsuited to

gaming. Although the current version of

Wine [1] is capable of running the well-

known Half Life ego-shooter, Wine

cannot provide adequate support for

most Windows games. Many major soft-

ware developers do not (yet) regard

Linux as a potential market.

Not all Linux developers are happy

with Windows’ quasi-monopoly in the

Martin Loschwitz is from

Niederkrüchten and a developer for

Debian GNU/Linux. Martin’s leisure

time is mainly pre-occupied with

activities in the Debian or GNU

community.

January 2004

www.linux-magazine.com

An Up-to-date Overview of Free Software and its Makers

be looking at Icculus, a project that

could make Linux an Eldorado for

computer gaming.

Free Software Projects

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dows-only server programs, completely

ignoring the fact that there are more

Linux than Windows game servers. The

Icculus page currently offers the two

most popular server programs: “Medal of

Honor: Allied Assault” and “Battlefield

1942”. The Medal of Honor server has

already seen production use. Battlefield

1942 is still slightly buggy, and occasion-

ally produces errors or even crashes.

The functional principle of the Linux

server variants is the same as that of the

clients. Again Gordon only ports the exe-

cutable that links up graphics and

sounds. The disadvantage of needing a

Windows version thus remains.

Ryan’s latest project is a port of the

Medal of Honor client, and September 15

saw the release of the beta1 version. This

version works for the most part, but

there are a few bugs, such as problems

with playing sound files. Anyone inter-

ested in doing some beta testing is

welcome to do so.

Shortly after the beta1 version was

released, the first bug reports started

pouring in to the Bug Tracking System

(BTS) at icculus.org. BTS is an important

part of the project. Testers can use

Bugzilla [3] to add their incidents to the

database. This can help other users fac-

ing the same problem, and it is not

uncommon for Ryan Gordon himself to

chip in with a few tips.

The Icculus Project is an interesting

idea. It could develop into a central

repository for games on Linux. And

should Ryan Gordon manage to launch

the games directly from the original CDs

under Linux without taking a

detour via Windows, this would

add to the project’s prestige and

provide additional impetus.

The motto for the event was “Open

Source Software in Productive Applica-

tions: Best Practice Examples from

Business and Administration”, and it

was open to the public for free.

The event was opened by Dr. Ralf All-

rutz, the co-founder of Science +

Computing AG (S+C) [4]. In 2002 the

German Antitrust Division placed an

order with S+C to migrate their servers

from Windows to Linux. The aim was to

replace the existing Windows setup and

provide a smooth transition, while utiliz-

ing existing resources as efficiently as

possible – the project did not allow for

additional hardware purchases.

Ralf Allrutz drew an extremely positive

conclusion from this project, stating that

the target of using existing resources in

an efficient way was achieved using

Debian GNU/Linux as the basic operat-

ing system, applications such as SapDB

as database back-ends, and CUPS-based

printing. The migration actually freed up

some resources, and the performance of

the Open Source solution was a lot bet-

ter. However, Allrutz asked the audience

to bear in mind that, although it had

been possible to complete the migration

within the 3 month window, more time

would have been appropriate to a project

on that scale, as migrating tends to pro-

duce unforeseeable issues.

This talk was followed by a keynote

from Hans-Georg Eßer, who showed

users how to run Windows software on

Linux. He introduced the major players,

VMWare [5], and Win4Lin [6], for run-

ning Windows software on Linux. He

also showed a solution based on

Wine/Crossover Office [7] that uses API

emulation to fool Windows software into

thinking that it is running on a Win32

system. Wine is available free of charge

on the project’s Website [1], but it does

not contain many of the enhancements

that Crossover Office provides.

Following on, Mirko Dölle presented

the Video Disc Recorder, VDR for short.

The VDR is good example of putting a

Linux computer to daily use. Mirko Dölle

explained the DVB stream playing fea-

tures that the VDR offers, before going

on to demonstrate VDRadmin [8], a con-

venient interface for Web browser based

configuration of the VDR. Mirko not only

discussed the technical aspects of the

machine, but also went on to discuss a

few important, albeit little-known facts.

He criticized the fact that it is currently

illegal to use libdvdcss to play encrypted

DVDs. Also, Linux users are not permit-

ted to use VDR to decrypt Pay TV

channels, as the program does not have

the appropriate license.

Klaus Knopper, who is well-known for

his Knoppix Linux Live CD, introduced

the principles of Open Source software in

his talk. He took a look at historical

developments and pointed out where

Open Source software is headed at the

moment. Providing a competent com-

mentary, and with his usual humorous

approach, Klaus also looked at the dis-

cussion of software patents [9] in the EU.

These keynotes were followed by short

talks held by members of staff from the

university’s computer center, which was

hosting the event. Michael Gut-

mann presented an overview of

current developments in the

SCO case, Detlef Lannert fo-

cused on security topics.

The event was closed by a

panel discussion with all the

speakers and a good deal of

audience participation. Some of

the most popular topics were

not directly related to Linux,

TCPA (Trusted Computing Plat-

form Alliance) for example, and

exchanging data between, and

migrating, Office solutions for

Linux and Windows gave rise to

some debate. The Linux Theme

Day at the university was defi-

nitely a big success.

Linux Theme Day

The LinuxTag is without a

doubt the biggest Linux event in

Europe, and thus one of the

most important events in any

year. But local events are just as

important on a smaller scale,

and often show amazing versa-

tility. Schools and universities

often organize events of this

kind, as was the case on Sep-

tember 26 when the University

of Düsseldorf opened its doors

to host the Linux Theme Day.

Figure 1: “America’s Army”, a game supported by the Pentagon has

been brought to Linux by the Icculus Project. More ports are available

from the Icculus homepage

www.linux-magazine.com

January 2004

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Free Software Projects

Debian New

Maintainer System

Debian developers have a

responsible task: they can

upload .deb packages to the

official Debian archive, and

thus, indirectly, have root

privileges to any computers

that run Debian GNU/Linux.

They also have privileges for

many of the project’s devel-

oper machines. The potential

for damage is huge.

To ensure that new devel-

opers are trustworthy, the

project introduced the Debian

New Maintainer System some

time ago, for anyone inter-

ested in becoming a Debian

maintainer.

The Debian New Main-

tainer System works on simple lines.

After adding their names to the NM data-

base, aspiring new developers have to

find Debian developers to support their

applications. Following this, a personal

mentor, the so-called Application Man-

ager (AM) is assigned to each developer.

The AM guides the new developer

through the NM process and checks

whether the candidate has the necessary

technical know-how and understanding

of Debian’s philosophy.

The AM then compiles a report on the

applicant and submits it to the Debian

Account Manager. The Account Manager

is the only person authorized to create

an account for the new developer in the

Debian LDAP database. As this proce-

dure often takes a long time, and the

report needs a lot of attention, this part

of the process takes the longest to com-

plete. This has often caused resentment

on the part of the candidates in the past.

This situation has now changed:

James Troup, the Debian Account

Manager, recently went through the list

of pending applicants with Martin

Michlmayr, who is responsible for

Debian NM, and allowed these candi-

dates access to the Debian LDAP system

where considered appropriate. Appli-

cants who did not make the grade have

been notified.

On October 3, James Troup stated [10]

that he was unable to accept some appli-

cations. He laid out a scheme with

options for rejecting applications:

Figure 2: The Debian New Maintainer System homepage. Anyone wanting

to become an official Debian developer will need to go through this process.

Developers can view statistics on current applications on this page

that support for the PowerPC

had been improved. The

developers updated the kernel

packages, to bring Debian up

to par with version 2.4.22.

Also, the x86 port of the

Debian Installer will soon be

capable of handling USB key-

boards and PCMCIA cards.

Developers who attended

the Depcamp also came up

with a plan for the initial test

cycle and the release of the

Debian Installer. The aim is to

start testing as soon as possi-

ble, and then go into a feature

freeze after adding a few mod-

ifications.

Following this phase, any

.udeb packages relevant to the

Debian Installer should enter

the testing branch of the distribution.

•Weak: The Debian Account Manager is

not convinced that the applicant

should become a Debian developer.

The NM committee, comprising the

active AMs, can reverse this decision

with a 1/4 majority.

• Strong: The applicant should definitely

not become a developer in the Debian

Account Manager’s option. This deci-

sion can be reversed by the NM

committee with a 2/3 majority.

• Ultimate: The candidate will definitely

not be accepted as a Debian developer.

The NM committee will have no influ-

ence on this decision.

That’s all folks…

… for this month at least. If you can rec-

ommend a program that you would like

to see featured in Projects on the Move ,

why not mail me at [12]? I look forward

to your comments!

■

INFO

[1] Wine Project homepage:

http://winehq.org/

[2] Icculus Web site: http://icculus.org/

[3] Bugzilla Web site:

http://www.bugzilla.org/

[4] Science + Computing AG:

http://www.science-computing.de/

[5] VMWare homepage:

http://www.vmware.com/

[6] Netraverse’s Win4Lin: http://www.

netraverse.com/products/win4lin50/

[7] Codeweavers – Windows software under

Linux: http://www.codeweavers.com/

[8] VDRAdmin Web site: http://www.linvdr.

org/download/vdradmin/

[9] Software Patents in the EU:

http://swpat.ffii.org/

[10] Mail from James Troup on rejections:

http://lists.debian.org/debian-newmaint/

2003/debian-newmaint-200310/

msg00001.html

[11] Posting from Joey Hess:

http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2003/

debian-boot-200309/msg00850.html

[12] Tips and suggestions:

projektekueche@linux-magazin.de

News on the Debian Installer

The Debian Installer will replace boot

floppies in the next release. Recently, the

Debian Installer was so buggy that pro-

ductive use was out of the question. This

would not have been a big problem, if

the Release Manager, Anthony Towns,

had not set December 1 as the release

date for Debian GNU/Linux Sarge.

But as he did, developers were forced

to remove known bugs and more obvi-

ous construction sites quickly. To

achieve this goal, a Debcamp was held at

Oldenburg, Germany, in September. The

camp attracted Debian Installer develop-

ers and a large number of developers

from other projects, who worked

together.

Joey Hess summarized the events at

the Debcamp in a message to the

debian-boot mailing list [11]. He stated

January 2004

www.linux-magazine.com

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