Raymond Chin's Bridgeplay and the NotProton Fork: Allowed by the Licence, Not Yet Accepted
Bridgeplay, the free tool by Raymond Chin (GitHub: raymondchins) that runs Windows Steam games on Apple silicon Macs, is a fork of NotProton. Over four days in October 2026 it went from a polite attribution review to an open dispute with the upstream maintainer. This is my reflection as someone who maintains open source code. It is built from public screenshots and is not legal advice.
RAHMAT WIBOWO | 24 OCTOBER 2026
The short answer
Bridgeplay is lawful under its licence. GPL-3.0 allows forking, modifying and distributing for free, and Bridgeplay names NotProton as its origin. The dispute that broke out on 22 and 23 October 2026 happened somewhere else: in attribution ethics and in the relationship with the upstream maintainer. Two things I noted on 21 October, a promo post that did not name the upstream project and Bridgeplay's relationship to CrossOver, became the centre of the objection a day later.
I am part of this story, so I say so first. On 21 October I asked on Threads whether CrossOver did not already cover the same need, and I opened issue #2 on the Bridgeplay repository with an attribution and licensing review. Its conclusion: no violations, five small gaps. Raymond Chin replied quickly and politely, fixed two gaps, declined the promo gap because the GPL does not require it, and closed the issue.
A day later the NotProton maintainer opened issue #79, titled This should not exist. From then on the discussion moved from judging code to judging people.
| Number | What it measures |
|---|---|
| 0 | Licence or attribution violations I found in issue #2, as of 21 October 2026 |
| 2 of 5 | Gaps from issue #2 fixed the same day; the promo gap was declined |
| 4 days | From a polite note to credit made clear in the wizard, README, site and app |
Six conclusions
| # | Conclusion | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bridgeplay may fork NotProton and distribute it for free; the upstream maintainer acknowledges that right | GPL-3.0 sections 4 and 10; upstream reply | High |
| 2 | Attribution in the repository and on the site existed; what was missing was attribution in the promo post | Issue #2 | High |
| 3 | The promo gap declined on 21 October was quoted again in issue #79 as evidence of a "narrative" | Issues #2 and #79 | High |
| 4 | Both sides hold part of the truth; Raymond Chin admitted and withdrew several mistakes | Issue #79 | High |
| 5 | The thread escalated to personal attacks and an AI-detector score used to shame; neither answers the substance | Issue #79 | High |
| 6 | The claim that Bridgeplay suppresses CrossOver sales is not supported by data | No public data found | Low |
Four days in one repository
| Approx. date | Event |
|---|---|
| 21 Oct 2026 | I ask on Threads whether CrossOver already exists for this, and whether it is based on Proton |
| 21 Oct 2026 | I open issue #2: no violations, five gaps, and link it on Threads |
| 21 Oct 2026 | Raymond Chin fixes gaps 2 and 4, declines 1 and 3, defers 5, and closes the issue |
| 22 Oct 2026 | The NotProton maintainer opens issue #79, This should not exist. |
| 22 Oct 2026 | A commenter re-quotes the promo post; Raymond Chin admits several mistakes |
| 22 Oct 2026 | The community splits; Raymond Chin closes issue #79 |
| 23 Oct 2026 | The upstream maintainer blocks Raymond Chin and asks for Bridgeplay to be deleted |
| 23 Oct 2026 | Raymond Chin answers once and withdraws the 32-bit claim; the next reply attacks them personally |
| 23 Oct 2026 | An AI-detector result is pasted into the thread with a prompt-injection joke |
| 23-24 Oct 2026 | Full credit under a third-party promo, then more visible credit in the wizard, README, site and app |
Dates are estimated from GitHub and Threads relative times ("2d ago") on screenshots taken 24 October 2026.
Raymond Chin and Bridgeplay: the series
- Overview: timeline and six conclusions (this page)
- Part 1: Issue #2, the early attribution review
- Part 2: Issue #79, the upstream objection
- Part 3: When criticism becomes an attack
- Part 4: Ten fork manners
Limits and right of reply
- The evidence is screenshots as of 24 October 2026. I did not re-audit the code or commit history after issue #2.
- Dates are estimates from GitHub and Threads relative times.
- The CodeWeavers blog quotation (18 April 2025) could not be opened directly because the page refused automated access; I record it as Raymond Chin's quotation.
- The author of the AI-detector comment is not visible in the screenshots.
- The claim that Bridgeplay suppresses CrossOver sales is neither supported nor refuted by any public data I found.
- The CodeWeavers contribution figures cited by the upstream maintainer were not checked separately.
- I am not a neutral party: I opened issue #2 and asked on Threads. This is not legal advice and does not judge anyone's character; it looks at recorded behaviour.
Right of reply. Raymond Chin, the NotProton maintainer and anyone quoted can send corrections to [email protected]. A proven correction will be added to the next version.
References
- Free Software Foundation (2007). GNU General Public License, version 3, sections 4, 5, 7, 10. https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html
- Free Software Foundation. What is Free Software? https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
- Open Source Initiative. The Open Source Definition, items 5 and 6. https://opensource.org/osd
- raymondchins/Bridgeplay, issue #2, Attribution and licensing review: a few small gaps, no violations found. Opened 21 October 2026.
- raymondchins/Bridgeplay, issue #79, This should not exist. Opened around 22 October 2026.
- CodeWeavers (18 April 2025). Whisky's legacy and the spirit it leaves behind. Quoted in issue #79; not verified directly.
#RaymondChin #Bridgeplay #OpenSource #SoftwareEthics