Suggestion: Official GBAtemp DSTT dat sets

[xyrophile]

The DSTT boards are a frequent source of conflict due to personal clashes between DSTT dat developers. Issues of credit, attribution and reuse of work frequently arise, but the dat updates are clearly a necessity in order to ensure the ongoing viability of the DSTT platform.

In order to address these issues, I propose an official DSTT dat distribution overseen by the community, and credited to the developers and maintainers collectively. As a rule of thumb, such a distribution should freely welcome submissions from any and all who wish to contribute, and evaluate these contributions by consensus.

Ideally, GBAtemp would make it policy that by uploading any fixes, dats or other data to GBAtemp grants the community permission to use them in the GBAtemp official set. Obviously, this would need to be clearly stated, but it seems well within the management's rights to set such a policy. While I personally would like to see this as a mandatory part of the terms of service, an opt-out provision could also be implemented. (e.g. all dats are permitted for inclusion unless the author specifically states otherwise)

By turning the distribution of dats into a community project, the userbase benefits by reducing the level of drama, (no accusations of theft when everyone is on the same team) assuring a stable and unchanging source for updates, and possibly even allowing for regularly scheduled releases. Ultimately such a project would serve not only the GBAtemp DSTT community, but the DSTT community as a whole; it is not difficult to envision a day where our community produces what amounts to the definitive DSTT updates and a source of pride for all GBAtemp members.

 

[The Catboy]

I really don't see the point in doing that?
The only reason the DSTT scene had so much drama is because some members were indeed stealing Retro's work and claiming it as their own. So really must of the scene really doesn't know what they are doing.
Honestly I think Retro is doing a great job at maintaining stable updates and really people should be grateful that he is so willing to work so hard for these updates.

 

[xyrophile]

snip

There's a lot of reasons for drama, and nobody involved is entirely innocent. I say eliminate the issue entirely and make dat sets a collaborative community process; while retro's releases are great, there's nothing stopping him from retiring tomorrow and demanding that nobody ever add anything to his sets again. A community dat project helps protect the community in an uncertain future while keeping it free from pissing matches over who stole what from whom.

 

[Phoenix Goddess]

I can assure you retro won't be quitting any time soon or in the near future.

I think just having his dats for the DSTT users are enough.

For all that, you might as well request the same thing for every other flashcart.

Retro's updates help more than the DSTT users, but they also help the M3 users.

I have an Acekard, so I use AKAIO and depend on Normmatt, but I think retro's doing a good job so far. If people stop stealing work, there wouldn't be so much DSTT drama. Doing a community one is a bad idea cause you never know which ones are going to kill someone's flashcart.

It's much safer with just retro's updates.