[Kopachris]

Just out of curiosity, I wonder if it might be possible to package FS2_Open into a .deb package for easy installation in Debian and Ubuntu (or a .rpm for Red Hat/Fedora).  I understand that we're not allowed to distribute the retail files, but can we simply only package the MediaVPs instead?  Will FS2_Open run without any retail files, or do the MediaVPs themselves contain retail files that we're not allowed to distribute?

[General Battuta]

The game will not run without the retail files.

[Droid803]

Oh, but you can get it to.
Using the MediaVPs, and a few bits (such as the cursor) from standalone mods.

I, for one, have run FSO without the retail files using bits from the Earth Defence Demo

[Kopachris]

Change those few little bits, and I bet new players wouldn't even notice.  What about the interface, though?  And the mainhall?  And the cutscenes?  What about the audio files and most of the other artwork?  Are we allowed to distribute those with the game, or do they have to be separate from the game (i.e. a mod)?  In the latter case, we'd have to recreate them entirely, and licensing might be tricky even then if they look similar enough to the originals.  I seem to have misplaced (read: deleted) my license agreement for retail FreeSpace 2; could someone direct me to a copy?  I'd like to find out what it actually says.

[Bobboau]

we do not own the IP for Shivans Vasudans GTVA or any other game story related material, a deb could however be made that installs the engine over top of an existing FS2 install on a shared hard drive.

[BlueFlames]

Change those few little bits, and I bet new players wouldn't even notice.  What about the interface, though?  And the mainhall?  And the cutscenes?  What about the audio files and most of the other artwork?  Are we allowed to distribute those with the game, or do they have to be separate from the game (i.e. a mod)?  In the latter case, we'd have to recreate them entirely, and licensing might be tricky even then if they look similar enough to the originals.  I seem to have misplaced (read: deleted) my license agreement for retail FreeSpace 2; could someone direct me to a copy?  I'd like to find out what it actually says.

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/EULA

Basically, you can distribute the code, under the license that Volition attached to the source code release and that's it.  Technically speaking, the MediaVPs could probably be considered "derivative works" of the FreeSpace IP, but I don't foresee Interplay or Volition trying to stop their distribution any time soon....

....unless someone were to try to use them to distribute the whole game piecemeal, as a means of weaseling around the EULA.  It's a catch-22 that the upgrade team is eventually going to run into.  Not to say that their intention has ever been to weasel around the EULA, but if they upgrade all of the game's content, none of the original files will any longer be necessary to play.  That might cock an IP lawyer's eyebrow in the legal department at Interplay (or where ever the FS IP may reside when that day arrives).

[Mongoose]

Well, there are certain things like the game's voice files that simply can't be upgraded, so there's always going to be at least something leftover from retail.

[The E]

we do not own the IP for Shivans Vasudans GTVA or any other game story related material, a deb could however be made that installs the engine over top of an existing FS2 install on a shared hard drive.

This is very much possible. And I do remember several people coming forward to create such packages; all of them have vanished for some reason or another.

Oh, but you can get it to.
Using the MediaVPs, and a few bits (such as the cursor) from standalone mods.

I, for one, have run FSO without the retail files using bits from the Earth Defence Demo

Good luck with that. It might work, but I just know that you're going to run into issues with campaigns like BP.