[Scummvm-devel] My Resignation

Fri Dec 25 16:45:11 CET 2015

I'm really sorry to see you go Matt

Regarding your stance to the splash screen: Eugene said he wanted this
feature included in the next release, but he asked as how we would like to
have it included. I respect that, since it's a core decision made by the
project leader. We always have a vote on what to do, but some key aspects
of a project are decided by its leader(s), who shape the project itself.
This is how things are. Since you are not OK with this, and you don't like
his decision, you are free to create your own fork, where you can be in
charge of key decisions. I never saw an "engraved invitation" to leave the
project (it didn't have anyone's name on it) - I only saw a project
leader's decision, which I respect.

I realize you do not like Eugene's stance towards you. However, this is
something that should be discussed between the two of you. It is not
something that should be announced to everyone else. This is true for all
things in life, like, for example, coworkers. You don't get to announce
private conversations between you and other coworkers to others.

Regarding project funds, they are used to fund server costs, licence costs
and whatnot. I would like to have some sort of Excel file with what has
been spent where, but this is a topic for another discussion.

Concerning your decision to change the name of core code: of course the
project leader would want to keep a specific structure. Changes to that
structure should be discussed before doing them, not force pushed without
talking to anyone. I didn't like that stance then, and I still don't like
it now. If you believe that Eugene's decision wasn't nice, and he wasn't
great towards you then I can say the exact same thing about you, who
changed core code structure without talking to anyone, and then came back
angry when people asked you for the reason, and replied that "you're the
sole developer of this code". Let me remind you that I was the one who
originally thought of this whole video decoder idea, and which you
continued. We were also having a discussion about the image decoder, which
I wanted to push, but you beat me to it. So, I don't like the "lone gunman"
rationale that you're trying to enforce, in a project with loads of
developers.

As a developer, I can only say that there were times that we also disagreed
on several topics (e.g. the Riven scene transitions code in a pull
request). But you decided to shut off any external attempts to write that
part of the code because it wasn't exactly like the original, and after all
these years there wasn't any alternative code from you. But I never talked
about that, and I never said I wanted to leave the project because of
something that I didn't like. You never gave me any means to discuss things
back then, but I don't feel bitter - it's a fact of life that you can never
agree 100% with other people. So, the only way not to argue with anyone is
to work on your own.

Last but not least, about the pull request: you were negative right from
the start about it, without providing any positive feedback. I understand
that you didn't like or want it. You said it was a slap on the wrist on
gamers. Yet, it only appears under specific circumstances (when the GUI
doesn't show up and a game is launched directly) and it shows for half a
second - which I hardly believe it's a slap to the wrist. Other projects
have done similar approaches as well (e.g. DOSBox and MAMEUI), just to
promote their work, and since gamers love them, they are used to sort and
sensible splash screens already.

So, the fact is that I don't find it right that a person leaves a project
because of a disagreement on a decision (which wasn't THAT major, IMHO).
Also, I don't like the fact that you have a personal problem with Eugene,
which you never sorted out after all these years working in the project,
and decided to leave as your best option.

What will happen to the engines you worked on your own (namely, JMP2)?
Would you be willing to provide contact information with Presto Studios, so
that other ScummVM developers can work with them? Or will you continue work
on your own on these?

Thanks for all the good times we had together! I honestly wish the best in
your future endeavors.

Regards (and hey! Give me some of that fish you galactic hitchhiker! :P )
Filippos Karapetis

On Fri, Dec 25, 2015 at 3:55 PM, Matthew Hoops <clone2727 at gmail.com> wrote:

> It is with a heavy heart, that I have to announce my resignation from
> ScummVM. This has been building for a long time now, but has now
> culminated with the splash screen discussion.
>
> While I absolutely think the splash screen is a horrible move for
> ScummVM, it was the actual discussion that really soured my feelings.
> >From the beginning, it started with "Your feedback is welcome, but I
> want the splash screen to be present before 1.8.0", so there was only
> the illusion of having a discussion. sev decided to deflect any
> criticism of the splash screen to being "offensive" or "insulting".
> This is not something I have any desire to be a part of.
>
> This is just one offense in a long line of offenses. I was PM'd y sev
> a few weeks ago saying I had a negative attitude because I didn't
> congratulate enough people for their work and only chimed in when I
> have a discussion. I'm sorry, but just giving out meaningless
> platitudes isn't helping anyone make better code. I had pointed out
> Strangerke in the channel that he posted a news post to the site
> without asking the channel for proofreading (of which it needed, since
> criezy then had to go and edit it). This involved another "talking to"
> from sev, who said I insulted Strangerke by pointing it out in
> channel.
>
> I can go back further. I was called "a kid" in #scummvm by a few
> months ago when I asked about project funds (of which no information
> is made public, and which an open source project like us should make
> the information public. Going back to last year, my code for image/
> was called "stupid" in channel (while I was sleeping and couldn't
> defend myself). This was followed by a differently toned -devel thread
> under the title of "Re: [Scummvm-cvs-logs] scummvm master ->
> 57aa610f0c6199fbe41fc5de495356aa29fae6b8" to have a more civilized
> discussion. After getting sev to finally admit he didn't like it _just
> because of the name_. He had no alternative and never responded to my
> last message.
>
> I had hopes during this discussion that there'd be something to keep
> me here. There wasn't. In fact, I only got an engraved invitation to
> leave - "If you don't like the project, what are you doing here,
> then...".
>
> In the end, I couldn't have a clear conscience while staying on as a
> developer. Whether you agree with me or not is up to you, but I hope
> at the very least things can change for the better within the project.
>
> I stand by the statement i made in the PR - I still love the project.
> The code part of the project and what has already been accomplished
> here. And that's why I'll be forking and starting my own version of
> the project. I can't promise it will have the same visibility, but
> without the splash screen we'll pick up anyone who wants that version.
> And maybe, just maybe, we'll get away from all the arguing, and make a
> better project instead of just wanting more credit for the work.
>
> Unlike the libav fork of past, there's no attempted overthrow, there's
> no hate of the people who worked on the project, and I still wish to
> share the code to continue in the spirit of open source software. Feel
> free to include any code I write in the fork (of course, I'd expect
> full credit for anything of mine included because anyone who wanted
> the splash screen would all be hypocrites otherwise).
>
> I won't be able to convinced to come back either. Or at least while
> sev is still in charge of the project.
>
> I also won't respond to this thread, but depending on the topic will
> still be glad to continue having a discussion with you fellow
> adventure game lovers. You'll still find me as clone2727 or droid2727
> in irc.freenode.net, just not in #scummvm. And my e-mail is still here
> too.
>
> Thanks to anyone who helped me in any way over the past nine years,
> it's been incredibly helpful to my life and career. I've experienced
> both the best and worst of open source software at the same time.
>
> So long, and thanks for all the fish,
> Matt (clone2727)
>
>
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-- 
"Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes" - Oscar Wilde
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