Editing NetHack (section)

==History and development==
<small>{{Video game timeline | float="left"
| title = Major ''NetHack'' releases
| 1987a = v1.3d (First public release)
| 1987b = v2.2a
| 1989  = v3.0.0
| 1993  = v3.1.0
| 1996  = v3.2.0
| 1999  = v3.3.0
| 2002  = v3.4.0
| 2015  = v3.6.0
| last = 2023
}}</small>
''NetHack'' is a software derivative of ''Hack'', which itself was inspired by ''Rogue''. ''Hack'' was created by students Jay Fenlason, Kenny Woodland, Mike Thome, and [[JOVE|Jonathan Payne]] at [[Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School]] as part of a computer class, after seeing and playing ''Rogue'' at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] computer labs.<ref name="craddock chapter 5">Craddock 2015, Chapter 5: "When the Inmates Run the Asylum - Hack-ing at Lincoln-Sudbury High School"</ref> The group had tried to get the source code of ''Rogue'' from [[Glenn Wichman]] and Michael Toy to build upon, but Wichman and Toy had refused, forcing the students to build the dungeon-creation routines on their own. As such, the game was named ''Hack'' in part for the hack-and-slash gameplay and that the code to generate the dungeons was considered a [[Kludge|programming hack]].<ref name="craddock chapter 5"/> After their classes ended, the students' work on the program also ended, though they had a working game. Fenlason provided the [[source code]] to a local [[USENIX]] conference, and eventually it was uploaded to [[USENET]] newsgroups. The code drew the attention of many players who started working to modify and improve the game as well as port it to other computer systems.<ref name="craddock chapter 5"/> ''Hack'' did not have any formal maintainer and while one person was generally recognized to hold the main code to the current version of ''Hack'', many software forks emerged from the unorganized development of the game.<ref name="craddock chapter 5"/>

Eventually, Mike Stephenson took on the role as maintainer of the ''Hack'' source code. At this point, he decided to create a new fork of the game, bringing in novel ideas from [[Izchak Miller]], a philosophy professor at [[University of Pennsylvania]], and Janet Walz, another computer hacker. They called themselves the DevTeam and renamed their branch ''NetHack'' since their collaboration work was done over the Internet.<ref name="craddock chp6">Craddock 2015, Chapter 6: "It Takes a Village: Raising NetHack"</ref> They expanded the bestiary and other objects in the game, and drew from other sources outside of the high fantasy setting, such as from ''[[Discworld]]'' with the introduction of the tourist character class.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/12/08/nethack-roguelike-update/ | title = The Twelve Years Of Nethack: Version 3.6.0 Out Now | first = Adam | last = Smith | date = December 8, 2015 | access-date = December 8, 2015 | work = [[Rock Paper Shotgun]]}}</ref> Knowing of the multiple forks of ''Hack'' that existed, the DevTeam established a principle that while the game was open source and anyone could create a fork as a new project, only a few select members in the DevTeam could make modifications to the main source repository of the game, so that players could be assured that the DevTeam's release was the legitimate version of ''NetHack''.<ref name="craddock chp6"/>

===Release history===
The DevTeam's first release of ''NetHack'' was on 28 July 1987.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = Happy 20th birthday, 'NetHack'! – CNET |url = http://www.cnet.com/news/happy-20th-birthday-nethack/|website = CNET |access-date = 2015-11-09}}</ref>

The core DevTeam had expanded with the release of ''NetHack'' 3.0 in July 1989. By that point, they had established a tight-lipped culture, revealing little, if anything, between releases. Owing to the ever-increasing depth and complexity found in each release, the development team enjoys a near-mythical status among fans. This perceived omniscience is captured in the initialism TDTTOE, "The DevTeam Thinks of Everything", in that many of the possible [[emergent gameplay]] elements that could occur due to the behavior of the complex game systems had already been programmed in by the DevTeam.<ref name="craddock chp6"/> Since version 3.0, the DevTeam has typically kept to minor bug fix updates, represented by a change in the third version number (e.g. v3.0.1 over v3.0.0), and only releases major updates (v3.1.0 over v3.0.0) when significant new features are added to the game, including support for new platforms. Many of those from the community that helped with the ports to other systems were subsequently invited to be part of the DevTeam as the team's needs grew, with Stephenson remaining the key member currently.<ref name="gd 2016"/>

Updates to the game were generally regular from around 1987 through 2003, with the DevTeam releasing v3.4.3 in December 2003.<ref name=":0" /> Subsequent updates from the DevTeam included new tilesets and compatibility with variants of Mac OS, but no major updates to the game had been made.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Kenneth Lorber |url=http://www.nethack.org/ |title=NetHack |year=2009 |access-date=2011-04-08}}</ref> In the absence of new releases from the developers, several community-made updates to the code and variants developed by fans emerged.<ref name="gd 2016">{{cite web | url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-story-behind-i-nethack-i-s-long-awaited-update--the-first-since-2003 | title = The story behind NetHack's long-awaited update--the first since 2003 | first = John | last = Bridgman | date = April 15, 2016 | access-date = June 26, 2020 | work=[[Game Developer (website)|Game Developer]] }}</ref>

On 7 December 2015, version 3.6.0 was released, the first major release in over a decade. While the patch did not add major new gameplay features, the update was designed to prepare the game for expansion in the future, with the DevTeam's patch notes stating: "This release consists of a series of foundational changes in the team, underlying infrastructure and changes to the approach to game development".<ref>{{Cite web|author=Kenneth Lorber |url=http://nethack.org/|title=NetHack |year=2015 |access-date=2015-12-07}}</ref><ref name="gd 3.6.0">{{cite web | url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-i-nethack-i-gets-first-major-update-in-over-a-decade | title = NetHack gets first major update in over a decade | first = Chris | last = Kerr | date = 8 December 2015 | access-date = 8 December 2015 | work=[[Game Developer (website)|Game Developer]]}}</ref> Stephenson said that despite the number of roguelike titles that had emerged since the v3.4.3 release, they saw that ''NetHack'' was still being talked about online in part due to its high degree of portability, and decided to continue its development.<ref name="gd 2016"/> According to DevTeam member Paul Winner, they looked to evaluate what community features had been introduced in the prior decade to improve the game while maintaining the necessary balance.<ref name="gd 2016"/> The update came shortly after the death of [[Terry Pratchett]], whose ''Discworld'' had been influential on the game, and the new update included a tribute to him.<ref name="gd 3.6.0"/> With the v3.6.0 release, ''NetHack'' remains "one of the oldest games still being developed".<ref>{{Cite web|author=Eli |url=http://jayisgames.com/archives/2006/07/nethack.php|title=NetHack |work=[[Jay Is Games]] |date=2006-07-16 |access-date=2008-12-15}}</ref>

A public read-only mirror of ''NetHack''{{'s}} [[git]] repository was made available on 10 February 2016.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://nethack.org/common/git.html | title=Information for NetHack Developers | work=NetHack | access-date=2016-02-11}}</ref> Since v3.6.0, the DevTeam has continued to push updates to the title, with the latest being v3.6.7 on 16 February 2023.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nethack.org/v367/release.html | title = NetHack 3.6.7 Release Notes | access-date = 20 March 2023 | publisher = NetHack DevTeam}}</ref> Version 3.7.0 is currently in development.<ref>{{cite web|title=Official NetHack Git Repository|url=https://github.com/nethack/nethack|website=GitHub|access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref>

{{As of|2020}}, the official source release supports the following systems: [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Linux]], [[macOS]], [[Windows Embedded Compact|Windows CE]], [[OS/2]], [[Unix]] ([[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]], [[UNIX System V|System V]], [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]], [[HP-UX]]), [[BeOS]], and [[OpenVMS|VMS]].<ref name="nh366-dl">{{cite web |title=NetHack 3.6.6: Downloads |url=https://www.nethack.org/v366/downloads.html |website=NetHack |access-date=March 25, 2020}}</ref>

===Licensing, ports, and derivative ports===
{{Infobox software license
| name = NetHack General Public License (NGPL)
| image = 
| caption = 
| author = Mike Stephenson et al.
| version = 
| date = 1989
| OSI approved = Yes
| Debian approved = 
| FSF approved = 
| GPL compatible = 
| copyleft = Yes
| linking = 
| website = https://www.nethack.org/common/license.html
}}
''NetHack'' is released under the NetHack General Public License, which was written in 1989 by Mike Stephenson, patterned after the [[GNU bison]] license (which was written by [[Richard Stallman]] in 1988).<ref>GNU Bison is no longer distributed under the original Bison license; it has been distributed under an extension of the [[GNU General Public License]] since at least 1991.[http://dinosaur.compilertools.net/bison/bison_3.html]</ref> Like the Bison license, and Stallman's later [[GNU General Public License]], the ''NetHack'' license was written to allow the free sharing and modification of the [[source code]] under its protection. At the same time, the license explicitly states that the source code is not covered by any [[warranty]], thus protecting the original authors from [[litigation]]. The NetHack General Public License is a [[copyleft]] [[software license]] certified as an [[open source license]] by the [[Open Source Initiative]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical|title=Licenses by Name|website=Open Source Initiative|access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://opensource.org/licenses/NGPL |access-date=2016-04-23 |title=The Nethack General Public License (NGPL) |publisher=opensource.org |archive-date=29 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429115623/https://opensource.org/licenses/NGPL |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The NetHack General Public License allows anyone to [[Porting|port]] the game to a platform not supported by the official DevTeam, provided that they use the same license. Over the years this licensing has led to a large number of ports and internationalized versions<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/NetHack_in_other_languages|title=NetHack in other languages - NetHack Wiki|website=nethackwiki.com}}</ref> in German, Japanese, and Spanish.<ref name=":0" /> The license also allows for software forks as long as they are distributed under the same license, except that the creator of a derivative work is allowed to offer warranty protection on the new work. The derivative work is required to indicate the modifications made and the dates of changes. In addition, the source code of the derivative work must be made available, free of charge except for nominal distribution fees. This has also allowed source code forks of ''NetHack'' including ''[[Slash'EM]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://slashem.sourceforge.net/|title=The Slash'EM Homepage|website=slashem.sourceforge.net}}</ref> ''UnNetHack'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/UnNetHack/UnNetHack |title=UnNetHack|website=[[GitHub]]|date=21 October 2021}}</ref> and ''dNethack''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/Chris-plus-alphanumericgibberish/dNAO |title=dNethack|website=[[GitHub]]|date=21 October 2021}}</ref>