[App] WowUp Addon Updater

[Spike`]

Did any copyrighted addon got contacted about the change of Distribution when Curse changed it from its CurseAPP to Twitch ? Does any of said addons got asked of permition about the new change of Twitch to Overwolf?

No addon copyright have any effect here, when a author put his addon on a hosting site like Curse he lost any control of how the addon is distributed. In this case if the hosting site allow direct link to the addons the addon author have no say about it (its so easy for any site block direct link outside its main domain)

Addon authors agreed to giving hosting sites the power to how the distribution the addons is made, so if any has to say anything is only the hosting service

GL on the project, following it

[RelaZ]

IANAL, but this isn't distrubution, this is simply providing users a tool to access a distributor. In that case, if it's on GitHub, you (the repo owner) are a distributor to anyone who downloads the code, be that through git CLI, browser or any other app. Similarly for CurseForge.

You are not doing anything a browser can't already do. They obviously don't like it, because this removes any chance for them to serve you ads, but as far as licensing goes, there is nothing illegal here.

I think you're pretty much forced to sign a contract when you sign up to CurseForge as an author, and that contract lets them decide how the AddOn should be distributed (certainly on the Curseforge website itself if nothing else).

[Gilgamsh0n]

It will, but the Overwolf app is a pile of steaming shit. So, unless they make a new app...

This one seems really good though!

Yeah, the overwolf app is... terrible. Really appreciate any alternative. Going to check this one out.

Hey guys, Gil from the Overwolf team.
As centavo mentioned, we are working on a new app that will run on the Overwolf client. I'm sure there are a bunch of questions, and I welcome you to check out our FAQ (curseforge.overwolf.com/faq) as well as our idea portal (curseforge-ideas.overwolf.com]) in which we're collecting feedback and suggestions - if there's something you find shitty and terrible - we would actually like to hear from you so we can change and improve.
There's also a Road map board (trello.com/b/Slaz6xBq/curseforge-roadmap), where you can see some of the initial designs including mod exploration and navigation.

There's still time until the handover, we think we can help improve CurseForge and we're here to listen.
feel free to shoot a message on discord - you can find me on the CurseForge server discord.gg/9xM7Ujv"]

[Moderator Note: fixed links due to less than 10 posts]

[jliddev]

I cant send PMs but are you guys planning to keep the api open?

[Gilgamsh0n]

I cant send PMs but are you guys planning to keep the api open?

Still not decided here, so I can't give you a full answer re: that question (however I fully realise it's a "big one" and it's also one of the most popular questions in our idea portal).
That being said, as time passed by we created an extensive documentation and APIs for the Overwolf platform, so perhaps you'll be interested in creating a Mod loader in the Overwolf eco-system.
Again, early days, there's still time before the handover from Twitch, and then we'll hopefully be able to provide more a more concrete answer.

[Schizoide]

Bit of a history lesson here. Back in 2008 or so, WowMatrix, the other addon updater people referred to, was extremely popular. It was a plain superior solution, it was fast, it updated all of your addons in one click, and it wasn't annoying.

WowMatrix didn't violate copyright unless authors put a "do not distribute clause" in their licenses (some did, most didn't), but it did violate the TOS for the sites distributing addons by leeching bandwidth from them without showing their ads, so it was bad for the whole addon ecosystem. Remember this was back in 2008 when filehosting was a LOT more expensive than today, it was a significant expense back then even for small files given sufficient volume.

Curse/WowAce and WowInterface responded by blocking it from downloading directly from their sites, assumedly by using some sort of token/response system in their own updater clients. WowMatrix is actually still around, and looks like it mirrors a bunch of addons itself somewhere. Anyway, don't use it.

I would expect the addon hosts to treat WowUp with similar hostility, honestly. Bandwidth leeching won't cost them real money in 2020, but they will still care about lost advertising revenue, particularly if you decide to put your own ads in your client. That could lead to an arms race if you're up to it. Just don't include any addons with a do not distribute clause and you should be covered legally.

On a side note, CurseBreaker has been around for like a year now and nobody cared, but that's a CLI program that doesn't show ads so I would imagine it isn't very popular.

Really the best possible solution would be for each individual addon author to host their stuff on Github and then simple clients can just parse a list of Github URLs in a centralized location and grab the latest releases and changelogs from Github. If authors want to profit from their addons, put up a Patreon. It's 2020, y'all. There's simply no compelling need for Curse or Wowinterface (or Overwolf) anymore. They should all be led out to pasture, given one last fond pat on the back, then shot in the head.