Icar Version 4 will be CC

[Rob Lang]

I've been thinking long and hard about this - even fought with Sanglorian about it - and I've come to the decision that Icar Version 4 will hold a CC license. I am looking at BY-NC-SA (attribution, non-commercial, share-alike), so that others can make Icar stuff but not sell it without permission.

Why have I changed my tune? The more I think about it, the few times in the past people have offered stuff to be added to the canon, the ideas have been pretty good. Particularly those steeped in Icar-ness (Byrn, Fish, etc). Rather than stuff everything into a core rulebook each time, I should allow those people to make their own add-ons. It's not going to happen very often, so the sheer volume of Icar stuff I produce will always make the other stuff look like a footnote. I won't have to worry about quality because 90% of the Icar stuff will be by me - which will be of the quality I decide.

Version 3.5 won't have a CC license because I'm forcing myself not to open it up again. If I went back and produced 3.6, it would mean I wasn't working on 4 - which is bad, very bad.

Sanglorian, you may consider this as your first win! Victory laps and goal celebrations (or spitting if you're keen on baseball) are all acceptable.

[maledictus]

This is good news. Now peolpe wll be able to legaly do material for Icar, expanding even more your universe! You don't have to worry about the quality. After all, people will decide if use this other materiales or stick to the core books written by you.
I remember you once said you were thinking to sell Icar on Print on Demand, is this is still the idea?

[Rob Lang]

PoD definitely. I am doing all the graphics in High Res. The PDF will remain free but the biggest desire of people who have picked up the PDF is for a POD copy. The current version is only in 72DPI, which looks awful when printed. The new book is designed to be black and white in high res so should look pretty good!

At the moment, my preferred service is Lulu but I'll cross that bridge again when I come to it.

[Groffa]

A PoD-version of Icar (v4, of course) would most definitely be interesting! Computers are great, but I like to hold what I read. That, and the fact that I don't have a laptop...

[misterecho]

i find reading huge amounts of text on screen, eye watering. I like to print my pdfs or buy the PoD version

[Sanglorian]

Fantastic news! The sporting custom in Australia is to pull one's shirt over one's head - I shall do that now.

You seem pretty informed as to which licence you want, but if you have any doubts read my new blog post on .

[Rob Lang]

Thanks Sanglorian - I check that out and also had a look at http://creativecommons.org/ which has a really good page that helps you choose the right one for you.

[Sanglorian]

Creative Commons does have a great licensing page.

In fact, I believe the main reason for CC's success as an open licence is that they make it so easy. Plain English deeds, clear logos, a range of licences all explained very simply. 'Creative Commons Attribution' tells you everything you need to know; 'OpenContent License' or 'GNU General Public License' does not.

[Rob Lang]

I think you're right. All the logos are good too - you can recognise them from a mile away. I'll be needing some vector ones, so might have a to make a couple. GNU-GPL has long been the domain of the license snobs, understood by those in the clique and very few others. CC feels like it's idiot proof. After all, I managed to use it!