Subject:
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Re: LEGOfactory.com launches... and it's big!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.lego
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Date:
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Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:24:12 GMT
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Viewed:
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2763 times
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Yeah, a Mac or Linux version would be nice, but we will never see them.
I don't have any inside info, but I would assume that TLC's programmers did the
following things:
* Deeply based the software on proprietary Microsoft-specific techonology that
is not portable.
* Used MS-proprietary Direct 3D for graphics instead of the cross-platform and
open OpenGL standard.
* Provided no separation between the Windows-specific interface code and the
rest of the program, to further hinder porting efforts.
Now, since TLC gives this away for free anyway, they should do this instead:
* Publish the specifications for the file format, or use the existing LDRAW file
format.
* Open source source the codebase and re-write the project from the ground up
using cross-platform technologies. Have some TLC paid programmers managing the
project and developing the Windows build, but leave it open for outside
programmers to develop non-windows versions of the software and contribute to
the Windows build as long as they follow specific guidelines. Of course, all
submitted code would need to be approved by TLC's appointed project manager.
Yes, re-writing it from the ground up would be time-consuming, but that is the
fault of bad decisions made long ago. TLC's programmers ought to have known
better.
It is not difficult to write easily portable software if you build it with that
in mind. Look at Mozilla/Firefox as an example, and how much better the Netscape
browser has become due to their efforts. TLC and non-Windows users would both
benefit from a more open mindset here.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: LEGOfactory.com launches... and it's big!
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| (...) While I'm very very happy to see something like this happening, I will not be able to participate becuase I (like a few others here it seems) do not use Windows. This page (URL) states "LEGO Digital Designer is not Apple Macintosh compatible." (...) (20 years ago, 9-Nov-04, to lugnet.lego)
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