Why was Beastie removed?
Posted: 21 Feb 2024, 02:07
Hello, I am new to this forum as well as forums in general. I apologize if if I make any mistakes while conversing.
It has come to my attention that in 1.4 version of STK the character Beastie was replaced with Godette in the main roster. I do not mind Godette's inclusion, but the demotion of one of the most iconic free software mascots to an addon puzzled me. Looking into it, I found a previous topic where which someone took issue with the fact that Beastie and Hexley were characters under full copyright. I thought maybe this was the source of Beastie's removal, but almost everyone else (including Kirk McKusick himself) seemed fine with it. Also, if not having 100% free assets was really the reason then Hexley would have been removed too.
Looking further, Beastie's description on the his addon page claims that his removal was due to a "licensing problem." This was interesting, as again, Beastie's removal had to be over an issue separate from making STK 100% free. It made me wonder is Kirk McKusick actually revoked the permission previously granted to STK. After sending him an email he had this to say.
Now I ask my full question. Why was Beastie removed if Hexley is still allowed and Kirk McKusick's permission is still valid?
It has come to my attention that in 1.4 version of STK the character Beastie was replaced with Godette in the main roster. I do not mind Godette's inclusion, but the demotion of one of the most iconic free software mascots to an addon puzzled me. Looking into it, I found a previous topic where which someone took issue with the fact that Beastie and Hexley were characters under full copyright. I thought maybe this was the source of Beastie's removal, but almost everyone else (including Kirk McKusick himself) seemed fine with it. Also, if not having 100% free assets was really the reason then Hexley would have been removed too.
Looking further, Beastie's description on the his addon page claims that his removal was due to a "licensing problem." This was interesting, as again, Beastie's removal had to be over an issue separate from making STK 100% free. It made me wonder is Kirk McKusick actually revoked the permission previously granted to STK. After sending him an email he had this to say.
I did not revoke permission for STK to use Beastie. Indeed I did not know until this email that he had been removed. I do remember the claim that STK had GPL'ed Beastie and having an email exchange with them in which they clarified that they had not done so. I have been completely happy with STK's appropriate use of Beastie.
Now I ask my full question. Why was Beastie removed if Hexley is still allowed and Kirk McKusick's permission is still valid?