Legal issues with source ports

[Maes]

So, theoretically speaking, if the JavaScript port offered a download link to the IWAD, or used a different method of loading from a URL rather than embedding it, would it be OK?

[Graf Zahl]

No. It would be ok if it asked for a local copy of the IWAD, but that'd be it. As long as playing the game necessitates downloading the IWAD from the same site it is a problem.

[hex11]

Maes said:

And wasn't Dave Taylor out of id already from 1996? So he probably has no say in the matter now (assuming that he did back in 1995-1996 when that source + IWAD were released). Even if he did so back then with the blessings of id's head honchos, as I said, things have changed in the last 20 years.

Files inside the tarball have Dec. 1994 timestamps, and I downloaded the Linux port sometime in spring 1995 (right after getting Slackware), so that seems legit. I'm pretty sure he was still at id software at the time.
BTW, this was a binary only release for i386 Linux and some others like SGI and Sun systems.

[Maes]

Graf Zahl said:

No. It would be ok if it asked for a local copy of the IWAD, but that'd be it.

Now, TBQH, I don't know if given the nature of that particular source port, that was even an option, at least back then. I am not particularly versed in Emscripten, but from my understanding it's not trivial to cross the barrier between the emulated "C runtime" sandboxed environment and the "real world" (aka native JavaScript functions, local file systems etc.). The very least, they'd have to go through some coding hoops not justified by the "proof of concept" nature of that port.