At last, Apple has removed VLC media player from its application store. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved - the hard way. I am not going to pity the owners of iDevices, and not even the MobileVLC developers who doubtless wasted a lot of their time. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that from a core member of VLC. I’ve been loosely following the VLC drama ever since this developer asked Apple to take down VLC from the app store due to a “perceived” licensing violation. In the grand scheme of things, thousands if not millions of users will no longer have access to to VLC code.
This is definitely a case where it only takes one to ruin it for everyone. I would think if one makes the decision to release their source code as open source, they actually want to see their code actually being used.
For me the bigger question is who owns the copyright over the project? Can any developer assert a copyright violation at anytime without the consensus of the other developers?
I just can’t support a project where petty politics and an inflated sense of self worth are more important than the users.
On December 18th between 3:00 and 3:30 P.M. a bullet tore through the second level of my home. On the face of it, we are extremely lucky that no one was hit. It is very hard to articulate the feelings that course through ones mind at a time like this but I will do my best to be as accurate as I can.
For some context, my home sits at a “T” intersection and the wall faces the street that is perpendicular to the house.
Path of the Bullet
The bullet entered the house through a second story bedroom wall less than 10 inches away from the window that faces the street at an downward angle. The bullet continues over the head of the bed until it struck the wall on the opposite side of the bedroom and through the adjacent hallway that separates four bedrooms (two on one side and two on the other).
After the bullet passes through the hallway continuing on its downward angle, it then tears a hole in our walk in closet of our master bedroom where it is stopped by a pair of hanging biking shorts. I can only guess that the bullet lost so much energy going through the drywall that the hanging biking shorts just absorbed the rest and dropped the bullet on the floor.
Family response
I found out about the shooting when my brother in law’s wife came home after grocery shopping noticed holes in the hallway as well as their bedroom ( where the bullet entered the house ). Since the bullet holes in the hallway were low enough for my two year old, I initially suspected him of digging something sharp into the wall. Soon after, I figured it couldn’t be him as he doesn’t have that much strength or attention span ( to keep at digging). My wife ( who was also shopping ) came home and determined it was a bullet and at that time we went into the walk in closet in the master bedroom and saw the next hole but no exit hole. I then immediately called 911 and they dispatched the police to my home.
Police Response
Looking back, I will have to say that the police response was more than satisfactory although at that moment, they couldn’t get there fast enough. One officer showed up first and I gave him an account of the story up until that point. He stated that he wasn’t the “Deputy in charge” ( or something like that ). He remained outside until another deputy showed up and then they talked for a brief moment before I escorted the deputy in charge through the house showing him the damage. He went into our master bedroom and saw the bullet laying on the floor of our walk in closet.
After the deputy went back outside, a K-9 unit officer showed up ( biggest man i have ever seen in my life, I swear he literally blots out the light in the hallway but I digress ). A few minutes later ( I wasn’t keeping track of time at this point ), the Crime SceneInvestigator ( Sara Sidle lookalike ) arrived and started taking pictures and what I guess were measurements.
After the CSI was finished, I was given a police report number and was told that an investigator would be calling me soon ( as in a couple of days ).
