On Fri, 2004-01-02 at 14:07, derek holzer wrote:
The only reason Max/MSP allows executables to be compiled is to allow people to run patches on multiple machines, thus getting around some of the trickiness of their licensing agreement.
but also to allow commercial distribution. But it's really easy to extract the patches from the compiled app (for educational purposes only :) ).
In short, compiled executables go hand-in-hand with restrictive licenses. Period. Since PD is freely available, there is no reason for binary excecutables to be released without the source code [this in itself is a violation of GPL], and also no reason to release a patch without its "source code" [the text file which describes it] available as well.
Note, however, that pd is not GPL. However, many externs and abstractions are GPL so it would be difficult to release something without releasing the source (and keeping it legal).
As others have already noted, it is quite simple to make a "live CD" of PD with the patches you would like users to run. And in this case, you not only give somebody one patch, but access to a whole new tool. I guess they used to call that "added value" ;-)
And this is truly platform independent (well, not really because all those SGI, Sun, Apple users will not be able to run Intel geared CDs) and without any additional software requirements. Nearly all Intel based computers will boot and run it (I don't know the status of PowerPC based Live CDs and other architectures). This is especially suitable option for those who are into doing generative music CDs that can play for hours (days, months....) and gallery installations and such. Also, added value is that a lay user, gallery maintainer, etc will not accidentally mess up the system.
./MiS
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__ __ (_)___ Michal Seta
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