It is a strange beast, indeed.
RT depends on developers to create applications to show that
REBOL is a viable alternative.
Meanwhile, developers of the open source persuasion see tractor
application development as RT's responsibility, feeling REBOL itself
could be maintained by the open source community.
This argument seems to crop up in relation to all sorts of products
nowadays. It seems "open source" as a marketing element is here to
stay. Somehow products that are "open source" have become
attractive to customers in the same way shampoos are attractive
when they have not been tested on laboratory animals.
Only time will tell whether or not open source software like operating
systems and programming languages will become the standard vs.
commercial, closed source options.
I tend to think open source operating systems and programming
languages WILL become the standard because of how we use them.
Like electricity, gasoline, etc., they are becoming resources which
need to be standardized. I see an inherent mistrust of closed source
products amongst many developers because a closed source
product can be taken away as quickly as it is given. It's kind of like
not wanting to commit to a relationship with someone who hides
things from you. This is how I perceive this behavior, at least.
-Ryan
>Things like Javascript have splintered badly, but that's
> because they were not Open Source, and vendors implemented their own
> closed source in different ways. All that happens is that people like
> Elan, Gabrial, Lemir, and Joel don't waste time ruminating about how REBOL
> is implemented. Rather, they can contribute working code to the project.
> Carl would still control what goes into the kernal. But Carl doesn't want
> that to happen, and so it won't. Pity, because it might free up some of
> his developers to create real-life reference applications, and then maybe
> more people would put REBOL to work.
>
> -Ted.
>
