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[REBOL] Some suggestions (was) Re: Antwort: Re: It's NOT Free...

From: petr::krenzelok::trz::cz at: 22-May-2001 9:58

Hi, [Sharriff--Aina--med-iq--de] wrote:
> REBOL /CORE not "totally" free? that hurts, due to the inability to convice > my boss about REBOLs coolness, I decided to shift my coding to Python, BUT > he allows me to use it for the odd CGI script here and there despite the > fact that it is limited in our scope of use ( no DB access, for example). > He also promised when the situation lets it, we would puchase COMMAND. I > donīt stand a chance against the PHP, DELPHI and VB/ASP programmers in the > company, Iīm lucky I realised this quick enough to learn Python, it would > be illogical to tell him that we have to license every REBOL CGI script we > code. My RTOG and "Dummies" are going to gather dust... :-(
Very sad example. I had great feeling that RT strategy shift was so cool. Now I am confused. Let's discuss possibilities/needs here, without any flame wars: The solution could be: 1) If you want to use Rebol in your organisation - Core and View SHOULD be free. It has nothing to do with open source, etc. - just a matter of fact there is strong competition in the field we have to deal with ... those of you working in company with strong existing infrastructure know what I am talking about. It is very difficult to distinguish commercial vs non-commercial usage inside of commercial sphere ;-) 2) If you, however, want to distribute Rebol to 3rd party, there should be two or three ways: a) 3rd party downloads Core or View themselves, and will use it for free (you just send them your scripts), but as commercial developer, you will probably choose: b) use Runtime to distribute your scripts with very acceptable 1USD per license c) sometimes (me personally for e.g.) you will find need for full Core or View distribution (even possible with Pro capabilities), and RT should allow special case negotiations. One example is: we want to use Rebol as language for CCD camera communication. But - it is astronomical equipment, and as it is academic field, that's why I would like to distribute whole environment, not just encapsulated scripts via Runtime. The price could be lower than Pro costs for e.g., while locking license agreement to the device. Maybe there could be some mechanism built into key, which would change license agreement inside system/license? While I considered Rebol being glue language, we miss certain linkage to external environments: - Oracle under Linux /Command version? Who needs it? Most ppl would prefer MySQL, PostGressSQL for e.g. - cancelling /Apache was mistake - /Command FastCGI doesn't count because of price. The only one way to don't make PHP folks laugh at our CGI solution is to develop some library wrappers for MySQL and PostGress (Jeff posted some some time ago IIRC), and at least FastCGI, if technically possible ... 50 USD for /Core/Pro is still better than 350 USD for /Command. - /Express is powerfull, but it seems to me its promotion somehow stopped. One of the main priorities for RT should be to cover most needs of ppl. I know commercial company has to feed its employees somehow, but offering some of products "free" for most purposes doesn't mean the strategy works against the basic principles and ways of how to keep company alive. There is many factors to consider. One of them is - getting product to the masses first, then ask for money. Asking money from the geginning doesn't help to spread the product. Bear in mind most of us have to fight its position in commercial environments. If there is one thing which disappointed me (from the historical POV), then it is speed and resource penalty of Rebol. Amiga Inc. for e.g. licenses "its" product to Sharp Zaurus e.g., and it is owned by 2 mil of ppl already. Now they are negotiating with Nokia. I mean - there is plenty of sw under Windows for e.g., but mobile communication is the whole new market. PPL will buy stupid arkanoid game for their PDAs, while they will not do in regards to their desktop system. It is a pitty Rebol can't be run under Palm etc. So ... I somehow ended describing marketing issues rather than licensing ones, but both categories are dependant one of each other imo ... friendly, -pekr-