Vladislav (and all),
I appreciate your concern for the future of your phpDomain product.
Perhaps some people got the wrong impression, and I think they
appreciate it being cleared up.
However, I also think you misunderstand what some people are proposing
to do.
Some developers are looking at building an open-source front-end to the
opensrs-php class. This would complement the class in the same way the
"official" Perl client has a connection module (OPS.pm) and a set of web
templates. The goal, I believe, is to create a PHP version of what
OpenSRS supplies in Perl.
Further to that, some people have expressed an interest in adding
additional features to the PHP front-end that aren't offered in the Perl
client, mainly pricing and order management.
(I will also admit that I don't entire know what is being proposed ...
mostly because I haven't taken a good look at phpDomain or the Perl
front-end, and because, as far as my work at easyDNS is concerned, the
front-end development isn't something I require.)
phpDomain is one-of-a-kind right now. There are, AFAIK, no other
PHP-based front-ends to the OpenSRS system. For that, I think many
people are grateful. However, you've stated that you are planning on
selling the entire phpDomain codebase, website and domains. With that
sale comes uncertainty. Will the buyer continue development? Will they
change the licensing structure? These are all questions to which no one
has the answers.
Further, you ask that the buyer continue to support the base of existing
customers. IMO, this is quite the burden on potential buyers, and I
suspect is a reason that some people might be scared away. Even if the
new "owner" supported old clients, who's to say how long they would
support them, or what the level of support would be, or whether support
will become a paid service. Also, who's to say they won't jack up the
price to $500 or more?
Like many open source projects, the desire to develop a front-end for
opensrs-php is based on these factors:
- disatisfaction with current commerical products
- uncertainty about support from commercial vendors
- want to create a "competitive" product
- simple desire to DIY
I'm not saying that phpDomain customers are disatified (I have no
knowledge of that). However, with the current potential sale of
phpDomain, the existence of a PHP-based front end to OpenSRS is
uncertain, and out of that has come a desire to build a new interface.
- Colin
