Hi,
> I am pretty sure, that more people would jump on the waggon,
if the
> source of rebol would be available. If RT does not like the
corrections
> and enhancements, they are in no way obliged to include it in
the
> official releases. But I am sure, that bugs would be faster
eliminated
> and the integration of wanted features would be sooner
achieved.
>
> I think it is more important to have the source available.
Then we will
> have more adepts and probably we will get more documentation
too.
It's been said that one of the big advantages of open source
software is that there are thousands of eyes looking at the
code, finding the bugs earlier, and getting them fixed more
quickly.
Another area where open source has been an advantage is that of
documentation. Perl has always been open source, and since its
early days, it's had a very good set of docs, the vast majority
produced by volunteers. I think that being able to dig into the
source code made that possible.
A development model that seems to be working and is apparently
profitable, is the one used by, among others, ActiveState
(www.activestate.com), which produces open source packages for
Perl, Python, Tcl/Tk, and others. The core software, standard
libraries, and documentation are maintained and distributed by
ActiveState as free open source products. Then they offer
supplemental support contracts and development tools which they
sell as commercial products. As far as I can tell, it's been a
growing and profitable enterprise for a number of years. I don't
know if such a model could work for RT.
Best regards,
Bernie Schneider
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being
overwhelmed
by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try
it, you will
be lonely often and sometimes frightened. But no price is too
high to pay
for the privilege of owning yourself.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche --
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