A recent archival of the Wii Homebrew Channel (HBC), one of the most popular methods of accessing homebrew software on the Nintendo Wii, has led to significant allegations of impropriety against the developers of the C library used by nearly all Wii homebrew, libogc.
Allegations include copying large portions of code from the RTEMS project, an open-source real-time operating system, without attribution; reverse-engineering and incorporating code from the proprietary Nintendo Software Development Kit (SDK); and an overall lack of transparency in the origins of the library.
The issue has led to significant disagreement within the homebrew and open-source communities as to whether the benefits of the library, which has been a significant resource for homebrew developers for over a decade, outweigh the questionable processes behind its creation.
Furthermore, some have argued that even if the suspicious practices of the libogc developers cannot be conclusively proven, the lack of transparency and the potential origins of the library should be enough to make developers avoid using the library entirely.
