For those that have not heard, the software company that developed Ryzom, a
MMORPG, has declared bankruptcy and must auction off all of its assets
including the game. A group of Ryzom players, Ryzom developers, and fans of
free (libre) software has organized an effort to raise funds and start a
not-for-profit organization, the Free Ryzom Campaign, that intends to
purchase the rights to Ryzom and release the _entire_ game (client, server,
artwork, music, etc) as free software. This is a vast undertaking but a
similar feat was attempted (and achieved) with Blender.
As it stands, there are very few 3D, multi-player games in
free-software-land. While games are certainly not the cornerstone of home
computing, the lack of quality games for Linux is often cited as one of its
current weaknesses on the desktop PC. The Free Ryzom Campaign has presented
us with a golden opportunity to not only set a large amount of software free
to the world to ensure its ongoing availability and development, but to make
the free software desktop even more appealing for ourselves and others to
use. Even the Free Software Foundation sees the immense benefit this effort
could have if it succeeds and has pledged to donate $60,000 to the campaign.
If you are a gamer or merely a computer user who appreciates the liberties
that free software grants you, check out the Free Ryzom Campaign website
[http://www.ryzom.org/] and consider making a donation.
Jonathon
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