Yes, I do agree with you, when you say that XMLmind XML Editor Professional Edition is a bargain. Again: I'm NOT a man who cannot afford it. And I do understand that the product has never been open source, but as I remember if I buy Professional Edition I'd get an access to source code.
My letter was about my feelings, about giving rights and taking rights away. When I don't have any rights (standard closed source licenses) I have a business case ? ?to use it or not to use it?. I does not hurt as much as when I have some rights and I'm losing them. Do you remember this sentence: ?Will quality software be written for the hobby market??. It was February 3, 1976 (31+ years ago). If somebody try again to answer this question ?YES?, now in the context of nearly (but absolutely good enough) WYSIWYG XML editor, many people will go there. Today, all those that are not hobbyist will be forced to buy Professional version because the are addicted, because they have been using the product for many months, and they've been sharing their ideas ? how to improve the software, to get it yet much more useful. But why they were using free version, earning money for the work results? Because they had the rights. I use XMLmind editor standard for production of professional documents according to DocBook standard. Vast majority use in this place MS Word and .DOC format ? whatever it is at present, some OpenOffice Writer and .ODT files. Now I will, probably, buy Professional edition, but I have to rethink the cooperation with clients. Should I give them source code of documents (DocBook), saying ? if you want to make any amendments 1) ask me for, I will charge you; 2) buy XMLmind Professional edition; 3) get XMLmind professional, I've bought it for you; 4) do whatever you want e.g. use notepad or kwrite. Open source developers are not only devoted to open source software production. Do you think that they will be using Personal edition for open source software documentation and for other aspects of professional life the Profesional edition or a different tool, e.g. any of the office editors? Regards, Robert Dnia wtorek, 27 marca 2007 15:48, Denis Bradford napisa?: > > From: Robert Ganowski > > Please let me envisage that I'm pretty much disappointed. > > Why shouldn't Hussein and pixware make a living making their great > software, especially from other businesses who presumably also charge their > customers? (Don't forget, there is still the free Personal Edition.) In my > opinion, for-profit companies and open-source can have a healthy symbiotic > relationship, and this is a very good example. Michael Kaye's Saxon is > another, similar example. Where would we be without them? > > Open standards (XML, XSL, etc.) and dialects (DocBook, DITA, etc.) > absolutely rule in the publishing world, but so far I haven't seen any open > source XML editors as good as the best commercial ones (which include XML > Mind). So XML Mind is not and never has been open source, but it supports > and extends open standards and tools. In my opinion that's how commercial > tools should work. So I think $220 is a bargain. > > - Denis > > -- > XMLmind XML Editor Support List > xmleditor-support at xmlmind.com > http://www.xmlmind.com/mailman/listinfo/xmleditor-support
