this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
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Whenever people mention Space Cadet pinball, I HAVE to recommend the reverse engineered open source version on github (source ports for almost every type of platform).
It's also available on flathub.
"Reverse engineered open source" isn't a thing. You can decompile a program and look at the source code all you want, but that's not the same as having the legal right to modify and redistribute it. Open Source specifically means the latter.
What you've linked to there is just some pirated proprietary-licensed source code that, frankly, I'm a little surprised Microsoft hasn't taken down yet.
(Also, I don't like the term "open source" for exactly the reason that it leads to this sort of confusion. According to both the OSI and FSF it means the same thing as "Free Software," so folks should use the term Free Software instead since it emphasizes the four freedoms.)
If you want a pinball game that's actually Free Software, check out Vector Pinball. I recommend installing it via F-Droid.
Thanks for the Linux link! Where is that on the git
I assume you ask where in the Git mention the Flathub link since Flathub deems it unverified? It's on On Linux section of the ReadMe
That’s great. Fun memories! Simple but exciting
Ahh, my nostalgia. Thanks!
Are there revese engineered open source version of the other games?
I unfortunately don't know of any other games on top of my head. I know Lego Island is close to 100% reverse engineered, but I'm not certain it'll get released as an open source game like Space Cadet.
Ski free was available as an HTML 5 game years ago, so probably