Timothy, It sounds to me like you're enjoying some of this help with algorithms and such... and are looking for a way to keep it coming in even when the RTL is mostly-complete and you're in the later phases of development.
If help working on the RTL wasn't a huge priority then I'd be OK with releasing the RTL after X units of product have been sold (enough to turn a small profit). The conflict comes up when you'd like to release the RTL before you've made a profit on the hardware (in exchange for the benefits of open development). That's when you risk loosing money to clone manufacturers. So how can we help you work on the RTL during the time that you haven't yet made a profit? I hate to suggest this because it's failed before (see: Transgaming)... but with a suitable public agreement I think it would be OK: Release the RTL under something like the Aladin Free Public License (http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/cvs/Public.htm) which prohibits commercial use of the RTL, with the promise to GPL it after selling X units. But if you choose to go this route you _must_ specify the number of units needed (or the dollar ammount), and be very public about it. Transgaming was fairly vague and simply denied ever promising anything. I think TechSource would have less incentive to break such an agreement however, because you have fewer on-going costs (TG's only real costs are it's programmers). You're primary costs are initial development and hardware / production. Anyone think of something better? --tim On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:51:02 -0500, Timothy Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 23:39:56 +0100, Attila Kinali <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > In order to maximize the > > > value of the IP to the business, we have to come up with some way to > > > compare those two kinds of value, and when the latter exceeds the > > > former, it's time to release. > > > > How do you measure both of them ? > > I don't have an answer to that. Perhaps some can suggest how I might > go about finding that answer? > _______________________________________________ > Open-graphics mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-graphics > List service provided by Duskglow Consulting, LLC (www.duskglow.com) > _______________________________________________ Open-graphics mailing list [email protected] http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-graphics List service provided by Duskglow Consulting, LLC (www.duskglow.com)
