Subject: credit

From: Quinn Avery <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 14:30:40 -0800

For the benefit of those who aren't MOO-historians, Schmoo used to
 be `mine'.  It was taken from me and given to someone else when I
 was newted (prevented from connecting).  I'd think this is a more
 important issue than people simply porting code.  This is a case
 of code being taken and GIVEN to somebody else.
 
I attempted to set up a `Rights of Object Owners' petition on
 LambdaMOO, but it didn't get very far.  Actually, I still have it
 offline pending revision.  One of my greatest fears is that I'll
 lose access again and everything I have will be auctioned off.
 
I have a lot.
 
I consider what I've done on LambdaMOO to be very much a work
 of words rather than programming.  Descriptions, messages, and
 even the code itself is written in my own style.  There are
 characters in my world that actually LIVE.  They have emotions,
 motives, hates, loves, regrets.
 
A muds with such enormous creative potential can't simply be
 considered a toolbox from which you can borrow what you please.
 
They're living books.
 
I would -like- to get paid to do this.  Not because I'm greedy,
 but because it's what I enjoy.  I'm a creator.  I want to make
 a living making living things.  Finally, people are realising
 the enormous entertainment potential of this medium, and are
 beginning to commission a few of us cyberbards to compose
 virtual symphonies of living words.
 
I suppose I'm straying away from the point.  I do that.
 
I could go without the money.  There's always Mcdonalds or night
 security.  But I'd like to keep the credit.  I'd rather leave this
 world known not for "He scrubbed a mean floor", but for the rich
 wonderful worlds I left behind in this virtual Eden.
 
-quinn

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1993 06:44:46 -0800

>  of code being taken and GIVEN to somebody else.

It's a tale not uncommon to all MU*'s. However, you have to admit the
only person truly responsible for a server would have to be the person
who is providing the resources.  Having owned and operated a few Moo's
in my time (and I'm still reposnsible for two) I can easily state that
many people don't agree with that simple statement.

But you have to look at it this way: The person providing the server
is reponsible for any use of his or her account. Reponsible for the
use of resources and reponsible for anything caused by the use of
resources allocated to him or her. I think most people that provide a
server also get permission from the administration of that "site" for
the use of those resources in the unusual way that servers chomp on
machines.

So if you want a Moo run your way, either find someone who agrees with
you or run one yourself... All this "constitution" and "government"
stuff is well and good, but they tend to ignore the responsibility
that the server maintainer has to his site.

>  lose access again and everything I have will be auctioned off.

I would say that is less of a concern on Lambda. After all, you have
an extremely benevolent server maintainer, and a good serious set of
wizards. Let alone hundreds of competant coders and sociologists...

Fire that petition up. I'll read it and sign it if I like it. :)

>  motives, hates, loves, regrets.

Well, people have often gone through hoops to get the wizards of a MU*
to recognize their work. People have also deleted their own work
(which has been made public and is in use by the server users) in fits
of anger or haste.  Such unpleasantness seems to be avoidable until
one gets caught up in the middle of such things.  MU*'s, like other
communication media that are so immediate, tend to circumvent people's
normal "cooling off" mechanisms, escalating arguments into epic
battles.

>  considered a toolbox from which you can borrow what you please.

Some people see fit to export their tools into the public domain.  I
can't help but be happy about such things. A good set of tools can
make a person extremely productive and happy.

> They're living books.

"Interactive Fiction", even? :)

>  virtual symphonies of living words.

A good set of tools creates even more cyberbards. You've got to give
a little to receive. Eventually we'll come up with a doctrine which 
will faciliate creation, intellectual property, tools and their use,
and the fun that so many people have with Moo's.

> I suppose I'm straying away from the point.  I do that.

Rambling is an art form. Pity I can't sell mine. :)

>  wonderful worlds I left behind in this virtual Eden.

I second the motion, Quinn, and I, as a user, thank you for your
contribution to MU*'s as a whole. That's one thing that people do not
get enough of. The tool creators, and the storywriters seldom get
thanked.

--JRP [Shirgall@a lot of Moo's]