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:
- Installer
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
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.
English (US) ·