The future of GiiMote

[SamWhited]

This information is mainly for developers and nothing has been decided
or finalized yet, so I have decided to post it here for now instead of
on the blog or at the GMC (that will come later).

I am considering dropping the GiiMote project. My reasons are trifold:

1. The project is time consuming and I have other, more important
projects to work on
2. GiiMote is such a simple project that it would be easy for someone
else to start their own similar project, so if it were lost it would
not be long before a (perhapses better) replacement would become
available
3. Users of Game Maker are generally inexperienced programmers who do
not understand the underlying concepts and technologies which GiiMote
is built on, this means that there is very little user contribution to
this open source project

Of course, each of these also has a valid counter argument:

1. It is only time consuming when being actively developed, which,
lately, has not been the case; also it might not be as time consuming
if #3 could be changed (more developers got involved)
2. If similar projects sprang up there is nothing to guarantee that
they would not be closed source proprietary solutions which would not
be in the same spirit as GiiMote and might limit the users options
(requiring attribution and the like)
3. There are many advanced GM users (even if very few of them desire
to use the Wii Remote for anything) and several people have expressed
interest in helping, even if they couldn't at the time. It is possible
more users may get involved in the future (though I do not foresee
this happening any time soon)

Let me re-iterate, nothing has been decided. If I were to drop the
project I would of course keep the latest source code and release
packages online for incorporation into derivative projects; however, I
would like to see GiiMote still maintained by another developer under
the same license and with the same basic goals in mind. To this end I
am asking anyone who would like to take over the GiiMote project to
contact me (a reply here is fine, or email me using the contact info
available at SamWhited.com). Really all that is required is a basic
knowledge of .NET, C++/CLI, GML, and version control systems.

Thanks,
Sam
(Leif902 on the GMC)

[Sam Whited]

As recently posted on the GiiMote Google Group (thread 74d55b252ab530f6) my commitments outside of this project have recently been such that I am unable to guarantee the continued development of GiiMote. With this in mind I have decided to step down as manager of the project or suspend its development until such a time as I deem I can pick up where I left off without interfering with my other obligations. My reasons are trifold:

1. The project is time consuming and interferes with my other obligations
2. GiiMote is such a simple project that its cancelation would be no great loss to the community as a replacement project could be quickly developed by another party
3. Users of GiiMote are generally inexperienced programmers who do not understand the underlying concepts and technologies which GiiMote is built on resulting in very little user contribution to the project (which could potentially mitigate point 1)

Of course, each of these points also has a valid counter argument:

1. It is only time consuming when being actively developed

1. There is no guarantee that similar projects would not be closed source solutions which would limit the users options by imposing various requirements which are not in the spirit of the GiiMote project (requiring attribution for instance)
2. There are many advanced GM users and several people have expressed interest in contributing to the project.

For these reasons I have determined that while I will not be actively maintaining the project I would like to see it continue to be developed and will hand it off to another party should someone with sufficient experience express interest. In this way GiiMote can continue to be developed under the same license and with the same basic goals. To this end I am asking anyone who would like to take over the GiiMote project to contact me by requesting post access to the Google Group (to facilitate an open discussion). All that is required is a basic knowledge of .NET, C++/CLI, GML and version control systems. To request access to the group you may login with your Google Account here or comment on this page with your (Google Account enabled) email to receive an invitation.

 

Thank you,

Sam Whited

--
Posted By Sam Whited to GiiMote at 8/12/2009 01:17:00 PM