Do you dream in six colors?

A user asked, why I didn't release the SD-8516 as open source. He said philosophically he wouldn't get involved in the project because he was an open source advocate.

I thought about it for a long time and although I am sympathetic to open source in general, I will never release VC-3 or VC-4 as open source, and I feel it is misplaced to make that suggestion as a contingency of getting involved.

First, I don't want to be critical of open source, but the fact is not everything needs to be open source. The Super Nintendo is a great example. If someone told you they didn't buy a Super Nintendo because it wasn't open source, this wouldn't make any sense. It's just a completely different category of product. The fact that software is involved means nothing. The Legend of Zelda wasn't an open source game. So why do I have to release my software as open source? I don't understand the notion behind this. Simtel is another example. Did you know I have software in Simtel? Does that mean I am against open source?

Secondly, there is a very real problem with quality in the open source world. When anyone can fork your project and make changes, your project is no longer special. It is no longer saleable either. And I do not plan to survive on donations and github subscriptions. If you like what I made, you can afford the $1 or $5 or $10 or whatever it is going to be. Let's be realistic. A Commodore 64 could retail for $299 (In 2026 the C64 Ultimate promotional price was $299 US, $349 retail). People still buy it. In contrast the SD-8516 might cost $10 on itch.io.

For those among us of the pirate persuasion, I sympathize with you as well. Sharing floppy disks with friends is part of a long and glorious tradition. However, this is your chance to prove the old adage that software piracy is justified by high prices. If someone pirates my system or game, instead of spending $5 or $10, then I can only conclude that the pirates of today are of a different ilk than yesteryear. This is a retro system. Piracy is part of the game. But you need to understand the culture. This is a lone wolf project. If you pirate it, you are a hypocrite.

This isn't about money. It's about a vision. A vision of a world, a retro world, where things were different. I have a dream, a goal, a vision. Do you share that vision? I am not being elitist – I am not a very good programmer, actually. But this is my dream. And as Blackbeard the pirate said, “If you want a job done right you have to do it yourself.” Yes, that's what Blackbeard said.

So no, I think open source isn't a good fit here. To make something like this work you have to get a core group, and it has to be self-policing. Not everyone gets to be a part of the core group. But if you want in, if you want to see what we did and how we did it, you can do that. If you want to.

I think Steve Jobs said it best. Are you one of us? Do you believe in this? Do you want the same thing? Do you dream in six colors?