This is a pretty good guideline that I copied directly from the Wiki of the late Maplantis, but is more so the Philosophy about which Maplantis was created around:
Quote from Maplantis Wiki
Philosophy
Maplantis was built upon an idea called open (source) mapping. Much like free software, open mapping is about three freedoms:
1) The freedom to study how the map works, and adapt it to your needs (not protected is a prerequisite)
2) The freedom to redistribute copies
3) The freedom to improve the map, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (not protected is a prerequisite)
A map is considered open if it has all of these freedoms.
You should have to ability to study how the map works. Learn from it. Change it to understand what reacts. If you decide to release your changes, you are not required to notify anyone in any way.
You are allowed to redistribute the map, as most players on Battle.net do. There is no restriction as to who can play the map and who can't.
In order for the freedoms to make changes, to publish improved versions, and to be meaningful, you must have full access to map. Therefore, not being protected is a necessary condition for open maps.
Credits are to be maintained. Respect the work of the author as if it were your own. Although his intentions may not be what you have changed, his name must remain.
Maplantis was built upon an idea called open (source) mapping. Much like free software, open mapping is about three freedoms:
1) The freedom to study how the map works, and adapt it to your needs (not protected is a prerequisite)
2) The freedom to redistribute copies
3) The freedom to improve the map, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (not protected is a prerequisite)
A map is considered open if it has all of these freedoms.
You should have to ability to study how the map works. Learn from it. Change it to understand what reacts. If you decide to release your changes, you are not required to notify anyone in any way.
You are allowed to redistribute the map, as most players on Battle.net do. There is no restriction as to who can play the map and who can't.
In order for the freedoms to make changes, to publish improved versions, and to be meaningful, you must have full access to map. Therefore, not being protected is a necessary condition for open maps.
Credits are to be maintained. Respect the work of the author as if it were your own. Although his intentions may not be what you have changed, his name must remain.
OSMapping is something that Clan Dyne and the community of Maplantis were built up around. The members of Dynasty and the community of Maplantis are both about helping others to learn and prosper. While we do believe people need to become better mappers through practice and should not have someone holding their hand the whole way, a guiding hand is a wonderful thing to have when you get more serious about learning how to map and makes all the difference as they progress.
I was raised into mapping thinking everyone was like this, but I was wrong. A lot of people leave people hanging in the wind and others tend to bite the hand that feeds them. Meaning, that people are smug and like to ignore the people asking for help; or that people pretty much ask others to map for them. Both of these are something that I feel need to stop and FYI, there are places you can find assistance.
Many of the people from the late Maplantis are here at SEN, who are also pro-OpenSource and will help to answer any questions you have. There is also Dynasty, who's members are required to be OpenSource and will help you whenever you need assistance. Other clans, such as Operation Onslaught and the hibernating Clan (U), have many members that are also pro-OpenSource.
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 27 2008, 11:48 pm by LoveLess.
None.