This repository is archived and will not accept any further contributions.
Like most Wii homebrew software, this software depends on libogc.
After development of The Homebrew Channel had already started, we discovered that large portions of libogc
were stolen directly from the Nintendo SDK or games using the Nintendo SDK (decompiled and cleaned up).
We thought that at least significant parts of libogc, such as its threading implementation, were original,
and reluctantly continued to use the project while distancing ourselves from it.
It has recently been revealed that the threading/OS implementation in libogc is, in fact,
stolen from RTEMS. The authors of libogc didn’t just steal proprietary
Nintendo code, but also saw it fit to steal an open source RTOS and remove all attribution and copyright
information. This goes far beyond ignorance about the copyright implications of reverse engineering Nintendo
binaries, and goes straight into outright deliberate, malicious code theft and copyright infringement.
The current developers of libogc are not interested in
tracking this issue, finding a solution, nor informing the community of the problematic copyright status of
the project. When we filed an issue about it, they immediately closed it, replied with verbal abuse, and then
completely deleted it from public view.
For this reason, we consider it impossible to legally and legitimately compile this software at this point,
and cannot encourage any further development.
The Wii homebrew community was all built on top of a pile of lies and copyright infringement, and it’s all
thanks to shagkur (who did the stealing) and the rest of the team (who enabled it and did nothing when it was
discovered). Together, the developers deceived everyone into believing their work was original.
Please demand that the leaders and major contributors to console or other proprietary device SDKs and
toolkits that you use and work with do things legally, and do not tolerate this kind of behavior.
If you wish to check for yourself, for example, you can compare
this
function in libogc to
this
function in a really old version of RTEMS. While the code has been simplified and many identifiers renamed, it
is clear that the libogc version is a direct descendant of the RTEMS version. It is not possible for two code
implementations to end up this similar purely by chance.
Update: The libogc developers have restored the issue and are now claiming that the code
was not stolen. What they are in fact
arguing is that the code was not copied verbatim and then changed to obfuscate its origin, but rather that it was
developed by “referencing” RTEMS. Indeed, the original commits of the code to libogc are a less complete copy
of RTEMS than the current version. What that means is that, instead of literally duplicating RTEMS and then
reducing it, they instead piecewise incorporated RTEMS code by re-typing or copyediting it line by line,
over time. This is equivalent to opening up a copy of The Lord of the Rings, pulling up a blank document, and
meticulously re-typing the whole story in different words, with different names for the characters, while
preserving the entirety of the plot. Unfortunately for shagkur and the other libogc authors, this is still
plagiarism and copyright infringement. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t literally Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V the
entirety of RTEMS. The end result is, very clearly, still plagiarized.
Feel free to check out another example:
this RTEMS function
is 1:1 identical to
this libogc function,
other than slightly renamed identifiers, different code formatting, and the prependit parameter in the
libogc version and if branch (which does seem to be a novel addition). It would be clear in any court of
law that this constitutes copyright infringement, regardless of whether it was achieved in one shot or
incrementally over time. It is simply not possible for this kind of non-trivial code to wind up completely
identical like this, purely on accident. This kind of conduct is, in fact, the same conduct that led libogc
to contain large parts of decompiled Nintendo SDK code verbatim. We just thought that that was a result of a
lack of understanding (or caring) of how copyright works when it related to reverse engineering proprietary
binary code, but it seems shagkur believes that he is entitled to manually copy and re-type any code, even
open source code, and the mere action of doing so erases its original copyright.
WinterMute is also is not innocent, and not just by virtue of being complicit with shagkur and enabling his
plagiarism behavior. He, himself, was previously
caught
referencing the official Nintendo DS (“nitro”) SDK while writing code for libnds. WinterMute has a huge
siege mentality issue when it comes to DevkitPro, which is why nobody has been able to get through to him,
as any criticism of his work or the way he manages his project has always been met with extreme hostility.
This is why nothing has ever been done about these issues with the project, even after all these years.
This repository contains the public release of the source code for
The Homebrew Channel.
Included portions:
- The Homebrew Channel
- Reload stub
- Banner
- PyWii (includes Alameda for banner creation)
- WiiPAX (LZMA executable packer)
Not included:
Note that the code in this repository differs from the source code used to build
the official version of The Homebrew Channel, which includes additional
protection features (i.e. we had to add reverse-DRM to stop scammers from
selling it).
This code is released with no warranty, and hasn’t even been tested on a real
Wii, only under Dolphin (yes, this release runs under Dolphin).
You need devkitPPC and libogc installed, and the DEVKITPRO/DEVKITPPC environment
variables correctly set. Use the latest available versions. Make sure you have
libogc/libfat, and also install the following 3rd party libraries:
- zlib
- libpng
- mxml
- freetype
You can obtain binaries of those with
devkitPro pacman. Simply use
sudo (dkp-)pacman -S ppc-zlib ppc-libpng ppc-mxml ppc-freetype
Additionally, you’ll need the following packages on your host machine:
- pycryptodomex (for PyWii)
- libpng headers (libpng-dev)
- gettext
- sox
The build process has only been tested on Linux. You’re on your own if you
want to try building this on OSX or Windows.
You’ll need the Wii common key installed as ~/.wii/common-key.
First run ‘make’ in wiipax, then ‘make’ in channel. You’ll find a .wad file
that you can install or directly run with Dolphin under
channel/title/channel_retail.wad. You’ll also find executable binaries under
channel/channelapp, but be advised that the NAND save file / theme storage
features won’t work properly if HBC isn’t launched as a channel with its
correct title identity/permissions.
Unless otherwise noted in an individual file header, all source code in this
repository is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License,
version 2 or later. The full text of the license can be found in the COPYING
file.
