[LAD] Background on the Impro-Visor project

Dear linux-aud-dev list, Here is a little bit of history on the Impro-Visor project (http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~keller/jazz/improvisor/ ). It was initiated in 2005 as a learning tool for jazz musicians, not as FLOSS. It used an early version of jMusic, which was GPL, so it became GPL. jMusic is only a tiny part of the logic that is involved. Heretofore included with the executable, in the 'About' dialog, was an email address for questions, which I always thought would include questions about how to get the source, although it did not say that explicitly. In considering how to distribute and support the software, I set up a Yahoo! group wherein I provided downloads to the members (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/impro-visor/ ). This is because I didn't want to reinvent various distributions wheels and saw this as an easy way. The members of this group are generally musicians, but not computing sophisticates. Some have trouble figuring out how to unzip the distribution, or run a jar file, for example. They wouldn't know what to do with sourceForge, at least as it was back then. So I figured that posting directly source in the group itself would just create confusion. The only official distribution of Impro-Visor has been through this group. A year or so ago I received an email from Raymond asking where the source was. I think that I provided a download for him, and eventually I posted the zipped source and kept it in sync with the revisions. I then got a suggestion or two from Raymond, which I decided not to accept, for reasons that I had then. Please understand that I am not a GPL expert, just trying to 'get along'. However, I don't feel that I am obligated to accept every suggestion that someone makes about software that is my own. I had not heard from Raymond since then (a year ago). Recently I posted to the impro-visor Yahoo! group a preview version of a new version of Impro-Visor, which included installers and launchers for the various java platforms (created using a trial version of install4j). I realized shortly after that there were some problems with some of the new features, so the preview was flawed. I was in a hurry to get my plane to a conference where I was presenting work involving Impro-Visor. I did not want to post source to a flawed version. However, the GPL as I understand it allows one to obtain the source by request, rather than having it posted side-by-side. I did not have net access for several days, which were reserved for a short vacation with my spouse. When I did get access, it was rather limited and I could only use gmail. I received a message from Raymond asking why the source was not posted. I indicated that did not really have time to do a proper posting of the source. For example, I understand that I am supposed to provide a compilation script, but I did not know enough about configuring ant to include build.xml which would include it in the zip. I still have to address that issue. So upon receiving Raymond's message, I immediately removed all of the distributions so there would not be further cause for complaint. The preview was thus up for 3-4 days. This was followed by additional messages from Raymond accusing me of intentional violations and making attacks on my personality. Meanwhile, the activities of Raymond Martin, trying to force my hand on how I distribute the sources, are very counterproductive. By making me 'put out fires', it is taking away hours that could be used to produce a proper initial repository. I have contacted sourceForge about his posting of sources relating to the project, and they suggested filing a copyright infringement (the project is copyright by me and Harvey Mudd College). I really am trying to be a good citizen, and you'll have to excuse me for not knowing the ways of your community, which was not the primary one intended to be served by this project. While I am quite willing to cooperate, I feel that I am being asked to react too quickly. As I told Raymond, I need a little space here. As you can see from the tone of his messages, he thinks I have to do what I say, immediately, or he takes over. It kind of feels like a lynch mob, which I don't feel I deserve, because a lot of the thinking that went into the project is that of me and my students. I also don't feel that I should have to disrupt my vacation and conference in Europe to address his whims. The project will require TLC to maintain, even by someone knowledgable of its structure, because it contains a lot of music theory. By forcing things in Raymond's way, progress is being prevented. I can assure you that I and my students have expended an extraordinary amount (100's of person-months) of effort in just making this project work. Please be fair to us. Thanks for understanding. Sincerely, Bob Keller Robert Keller Csilla & Walt Foley Professor Computer Science Harvey Mudd College