Hi,
I've been sitting in on this list for a few months now, and
the hoo-hah about CF5 licensing issues has been the
first thread to really draw me in.
I began learning ColdFusion just over a year ago when I
was employed as a journalist on a website where we
were twiddling our thumbs pre-launch and our CF guy
was slaving under untold pressure. I learnt enough in
a week to be of use to him. Impressed by this (I *never*
envisioned myself becoming involved in server-side
technologies), I decided to delve further into CF.
I now feel confident building relatively secure, fully
functional backend site adminstration systems in CF,
integrated with frontend output.
Most of my 'bread and butter' now comes from corporate
clients wanting CF sites built or tweaked; but more
importantly to me, I'm able to offer the power of this
technology to a number of smaller companies and
charities at rates that make CF hosting costs feasible.
The shallow learning curve of CF makes the extra cost
of hosting a viable option for these smaller organisations -
just.
Reading the recent thread about CF5 horrified me.
Suddenly all the investment I'd made in learning more
advanced CF seemed like a waste, and several projects
that are very important to me (as well as a lot of business)
seemed about to fly out the window.
It was encouraging, then, as someone enthusiastically
entering into the CF developer community at the very
time the Allaire/Macromedia merger is occurring, to see
a (relatively) prompt, positive response from MM
regarding the reactions on developers mailing lists.
Of course I think it would be great if CF was free. I
wouldn't have to rely on limited developer hosting
accounts for development purposes, and money would
be saved all-round. But yeah, I can't see MM going
for this. It might pay off if they went for it, but it'd
be a risk.
On the other hand, it's good they realised they were
shooting themselves in the foot by pricing the small-
to-middle customers out in favour of ASP or PHP. I
really think that CF's shallow learning curve makes
this market as important as enterprise customers.
Being UK-based is a major factor for me. As bandwidth
as so much more expensive outside the US, the extra
cost of a non-free server-side technology is much
more of an issue. Any drastic hiking of the price will
filter down through from ISP's to developers, and
back to CF, harming its chances of becoming a
reasonable alternative to ASP or PHP.
There's a middle way between a free CF Server and
one that only big clients can afford. I hope MM are
finding it now and follow it through.
I feel committed to CF now, and this licensing scare
was the first thing to make me question this. I'm
hanging in now, as MM's positive response bodes well
for the MM-CF developer relationship. I just wanted
to let everyone know that I'm one CF newbie who
is anxious to see CF flourish for all, not just those with
money to burn.
cheers,
- Gyrus
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[EMAIL PROTECTED]
work: http://www.tengai.co.uk/steve/
play: http://www.norlonto.net
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