On Mar 2, 2011, at 08:41 , Mark Rejhon wrote:

> On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 10:25 AM, Matthew A. Miller
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> When I release permissive open source code, I save all of you time.
>>> Even in your commercial projects.
>>> Also, that's not 8 hour days -- because I have a full time job and I
>>> only work on XMPP-RTT during my free time.
>>> Also, it took me less than 1 day to do a test rtt without real time
>>> editing.  2 days is with editing capabilities.
>>> 
>> 
>> 1) Unless the code released for a lot of different platforms and languages, 
>> it will not save everyone time; in fact, it will save very few people time, 
>> and may actually *cost* more time if the protocol is under specified.
>> 2) Unless the license is "public domain" or something as permissive (e.g. 
>> 2-clause BSD), this code will not save commercial projects time.
>> 3) Some of us like our software to go through rigorous testing, for which "2 
>> part time days" quickly turns into (at least) 1 work week.
>> 4) One implementation is not enough for ratification of a protocol.
>> 5) Relying on an implementation to completely document a protocol is not 
>> acceptable.
>> 
>> - m&m
> 
> Ok, those comments are fair.  On the principle of perspective I agree
> with all 5.  That said, I am sure that you agree that source code is
> better than none at all.  :-)    Except for the external library
> (currently using jabber-net and Google GData for the moment), I should
> note that all the code in the software is either already public
> domain.
> 

I'm not sure I completely agree with "source code is better than none at all", 
especially at this point of the protocol development.  Note that I did not say 
I disagree (-:

Having all of the relevant code is open can beneficial, but is no excuse for a 
poor specification.  That's my main point: a poor spec with a single reference 
implementation is worse, in my opinion, than a good spec and no reference 
implementation (at this stage).

> Therefore, I do have complete freedom to decide on which open source
> license to release my client under.  Currently, I am considering
> Apache 2.0.  Understandably, the libraries have their own separate
> licenses.  Over time more options will appear, perhaps even by me.
> But it's a start.
> 

This is getting into off-topic discussion...

I am 90% sure that jabber-net is licensed GPL v2, which I believe requires you 
to release your code as GPL.  I'm not a license expert or a lawyer, but I still 
have to be very cautious on what intellectual property "we" (my employer) use, 
whether for inclusion or sample reference.

> Meanwhile, let's observe that the spec is much more complex than its
> own implementation.  I'm now working on that.

I can't wait to see the update!


- m&m

Attachment: smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

Reply via email to