Emulator Packages
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Two great emulators that should be added to the Trisquel package list:
vice: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vice
brandy: http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xenial/man1/brandy.1.html
Vice is an emulator of various Commodore systems (C64, Vic-20, etc.)
Brandy emulates the BBC Micro. This is good because there was a recent release of the full archives teaching people to use it. See the following link: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44628869
I wonder if there are any Free programs to run on them or if they're just a way to run proprietary software?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VICE
Vice is licensed under the GPLv2.
Brandy is also licensed under the GPL.
https://github.com/peterhellberg/brandy
Because Brandy allows you to create your own programs in BASIC and license them how you wish, it inherently allows free software of your own creation.
VICE needs a ROM from one of the machines to work. These are non-free.
To be fair, there is a robust demoscene community for both the C64 and Vic-20. Surely those “ROMs” can be released under the GPL by their respective artists? I understand your argument for VICE. Brandy, however, I believe deserves a chance. It is a great education software given the interesting and well-documented history of the BBC Micro.
"Surely those 'ROMs' can be released under the GPL by their respective artists"
I don't mean colloquial usage of the term "ROM" used by the community but the actual ROM; inside the computer that contained the software that lets it do things like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/C64_startup_animiert.gif
That software would have been copyrighted by Commodore Business Machines, not 'community artists', and has no source code and so is automatically proprietary regardless of any license. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html "access to the source code is a precondition."
And yet, that is needed for the emulator to work.
A program that depends on non-free software doesn't belong in Trisquel, as per the FSF's own guidelines: https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html
I haven't studied Brandy yet.
I am a translator!
I remember Magic B pointing out this to me a year ago or so, it is indeed a problem, I love snes and I love a couple of emulators that are free software and work great, but the games themselves are all proprietary. It is very sad not being able to play Donkey Kong Country in clear conscience, which I haven't ever since :'(
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