Mod packaging and repositories

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skullgrid
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Joined: 09 Jan 2014, 15:05

Mod packaging and repositories

Post by skullgrid »

This is an idea for post 1.0. If there's already a solution in mind for deploying mods please ignore this.

I was looking at Morrowind mods and a few things came to mind. They are pretty annoying to deploy for a few reasons.

First, there's a plethora of archive formats used. While 7zip supports pretty much all of them, you still get the occasional oddball with his .ace files.

Many mods are released as self-extracting binaries. I don't know about you guys but I try to avoid using Wine for trivial tasks.

Then there's case sensitivity, which is not an issue on NTFS and company. However on Linux and OSX Textures and textures are two different folders.

Lastly it's usually hard to update or maintain mods, especially when dealing with loose files.

If we were to bring the package management dynamic to OpenMW it would make modding a LOT easier. A simple tool that fetches and unpacks archives from a repository, keeps a journal for removals/updates and handles conflicts would do the trick.

While it would be possible to use existing package managers for this most of them are designed to supervise an entire system and not meant to be run in tandem. It would also be hard to maintain consistency across all distros.

Out of curiosity, are modders likely to object if their work is repackaged and hosted on different servers?
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psi29a
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by psi29a »

Always, and I mean always, ask permission when handling someone else's stuff.
skullgrid
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by skullgrid »

BrotherBrick wrote:Always, and I mean always, ask permission when handling someone else's stuff.
Of course. I don't remember implying otherwise.
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psi29a
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by psi29a »

skullgrid wrote:Out of curiosity, are modders likely to object if their work is repackaged and hosted on different servers?
This is what I was referring to.
skullgrid
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by skullgrid »

BrotherBrick wrote:
skullgrid wrote:Out of curiosity, are modders likely to object if their work is repackaged and hosted on different servers?
This is what I was referring to.
I guess that was poorly worded.

In any case if permission is not given the package could be replaced with a link to the author's page and a script to automate the process.
maqifrnswa
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by maqifrnswa »

I think a uniform package management tool would be great. I quickly checked the nexusmods, and it looks like nearly every mod is licensed "all rights reserved, personal use only." This may be impossible, but it would be great if we could get modders to use standard licenses to make terms clear and follow their wishes. Instead of "all rights reserved, personal use only," how about creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (cc-nc-nd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- ... deed.en_US), and if you want people to mod your mod, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (cc-sa-nc http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- ... deed.en_US).

It makes it easier than the common "check with me" licenses where you're supposed to contact the author if you want to redistribute it.
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heilkitty
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by heilkitty »

Since most of the mods use Bethesda's assets, it has to be a special license for this case.
wheybags
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by wheybags »

TBH, I think there should be a license section in each esx file, like there is for author and description now, and it should be autofilled with some creative commons license, so people have to "opt out" of free sharing.
EDIT: Maybe even gpl, so people are virally forced to use gpl because they used another modders stuff :3
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psi29a
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by psi29a »

wheybags wrote:TBH, I think there should be a license section in each esx file, like there is for author and description now, and it should be autofilled with some creative commons license, so people have to "opt out" of free sharing.
EDIT: Maybe even gpl, so people are virally forced to use gpl because they used another modders stuff :3
I like this idea very much, force freedom down their throats. :P
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Zedd
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Re: Mod packaging and repositories

Post by Zedd »

BrotherBrick wrote:
wheybags wrote:TBH, I think there should be a license section in each esx file, like there is for author and description now, and it should be autofilled with some creative commons license, so people have to "opt out" of free sharing.
EDIT: Maybe even gpl, so people are virally forced to use gpl because they used another modders stuff :3
I like this idea very much, force freedom down their throats. :P
:lol:
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