> From: Will Johnson > the embedded program (in which you cannot change the code) > will be given away for free to the customers.
Unless you're prepared to maintain Maverick yourself, I don't believe that's a good business decision. OpenQM (compared to commercial QM) isn't an option since it can't be used for commercial purposes and there is no Windows version. That leaves you with no MV options unless the requirements change. The first problem is not that your client wants to give something to others for free but (implied from the request) that they expect someone else to fund that model for them. C'mon man, toss a bone to people who make you look good, eh? Your client can give away anything they want free to their clients but someone needs to pay for DBMS licenses. If your client has a business model that allows them to derive revenue from other sources (advertising, grants, service subscriptions), perhaps they can purchase MV licenses on behalf of their user base and expense the cost of the licenses. If they don't mind paying for the tools they use and deploy then the whole world opens up. I know Revelation has done a lot of business where developers distribute runtime packages to end-users. I recommend giving them a call, but be prepared for them to ask for "someone" to purchase "something". You could approach all of the MV DBMS providers and ask them to provide licenses to support this venture in return for some sort of marketing agreement or other reciprocal benefits. You might be able to get away with using Universe for nothing but a "Powered by Rocket Software" logo on app screens. And whether you're talking to Rocket, Ladybridge, TigerLogic, Revelation, Northgate, jBase International, or InterSystems, make it clear that they will get absolutely nothing if they don't work with you, but there may at least be marketing value in doing business with you. Any of these companies may already be itching for a way to enter the consumer software market as a new revenue option - talk to them. The second problem is the transparency of the installation. Transparent DBMS bundling with an application isn't available in the MV world though I've brought it up to a few DBMS providers in the past with no success. I believe a competent developer can create an installer which bundles an application and MV DBMS into a single package, but there will probably be issues with support and upgrades. Third and finally, if you can eliminate the requirement for having to run offline, then many of the problems go away. Any MV environment can be used as a remote service provider (even for developers) without Telnet, character screens, etc. You can completely front-end an MV system with web services, advertise it as a completely new web-based platform, and the operational costs could be kept quite low. This may not fit with your client's target audience but considering all of the hype for "the cloud", SAAS, SOA, etc, and the fact that so many people are now on high speed internet, people don't have the same expectations of localized software as in the past. Your client may not really know where their target audience draws the lines these days. HTH Tony Gravagno Nebula Research and Development TG@ remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com/blog Visit PickWiki.com! Contribute! http://Twitter.com/TonyGravagno _______________________________________________ U2-Users mailing list [email protected] http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users
