Not only did he remove the current (1.5.6) 32-bit and 64-bit executables, he also removed the only backup copy of the source code, some private files pertinent only to "Team Circle Dock", but also two programs that I had recently written and made freely available - "CleanDesktop" and "WallpaperChanger". He also deleted the "live help" section which contains the very latest help and is automatically loaded by a constituent of Circle Dock. These, like almost all the files deleted, were my original work and my sole copyright.
if this happened it was not on purpose -- and there should be backups of all the files which will be made available to you if they weren't just moved someplace.
the intention was not to hurt anyone.. when i talked to john (aka gothic, the dc server admin) he was extremely troubled that we had been hosting this circledock executable that had been in violation of the gpl for such a long time. the point he made to me, which is what ultimately convinced me that i should give him the go ahead to remove that one exectuable from downloading, was simply that: eric wong went to the trouble of releasing his program as GPL, and that if dc was to be true to eric's wishes and doesn't want to be seen as hostile to open source movement, we shouldn't be hosting the executable that wasn't released with source code.
i told him to remove the exe and contacted markham and sgtevmckay immediately to let them know that the exe was now offline.
i feel horrible that this circle dock thing has become such a giant ordeal for everyone involved. i don't assign any bad motivations to anyone.
and i blame myself for not spotting early on when markham just started submitting improved versions of CD that to comply with eric's CircleDock GPL license, the source code for the new versions should have been posted all along the way. by the time the issue came to a head, i think markham had done so much coding and invested so much time and made so many plans that it was just out of control.
i don't know what else to do though -- circle dock is not the property of DC in any way -- and we've not charged for it, sold it, asked anyone to pay for any hosting costs, or put any ads on the circle dock pages that are hosted on dc. it was released as open source by eric wong as part of a dc contest, and then hosted on sourceforge and wikidot as well as other pages. dc has tried to be a good friend to everyone involved in the program.
furthermore -- dc has always tried to be supportive of the idea of authors making some money off their work, and i've tried hard to help sgtevmckay and markham find a way to recoup some money for all of the time and effort they have put into improving circle dock -- and the userbase clearly shows how much they have improved the program, and made it into something that is much loved. but the bottom line has to be that eric wong released his code as GPL because he wanted it to be that way, and we are just trying to comply with that when we made the decision that the binary shouldn't be hosted on dc without the commensurate source code, as required by the GPL. none of their other files should have been touched -- like i said if they were, gothi[c] will pt them back. i don't hold any ill feelings for anyone. there are some hard lessons here and i'm not sure yet what they all are.
markham, i am sorry you feel wronged. my only intention in this matter is to provide a home for the programmers and users here. and i believe in my heart i have tried hard to help you and sgtevmckay. my only desire was to help you guys succeed in your efforts to build a better program, and to remain true to eric's original intentions. i have always viewed CircleDock as a living example of the fun things that was nurtured and encouraged by the dc community. i felt like it was a great example of the things that our members create. and i feel terrible that it has now ended up causing you so much pain. if i can do something to help make things better i will try.
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