[REBOL] Re: Looking for help
From: g::santilli::tiscalinet::it at: 6-Mar-2002 11:34
Hi Robbo1Mark,
On Tuesday, March 05, 2002, 8:35:23 PM, you wrote:
Rac> Do you reasonably expect to be able to make money
Rac> from the commercial use of your REBOL scripts?
Not in this particular case, actually. Well, maybe people will
find it useful and will pay for it, but it has been developed for
my own use and not to make money. I will make money from the
programs I'll write using it.
Rac> If you want to ensure that nobody can unfairly take your work
Rac> and build it into their own proprietary product and unfairly
Rac> benefit from it then the GPL is your best bet as it is quite strict
Rac> regarding it's terms of usage and compliance requirements.
This is why I thought of GPL.
Rac> If you just want your software to be USED as much as possible
Rac> then explicitly make it PUBLIC DOMAIN then anybody is free do
Rac> whatever they will with it.
The thing is, I started developing it for two reasons:
- I write a lot of "data base" programs, so writing them from
scratch each time would be a pain.
- This way I have an advantage over competition, because I can
write customized products at almost the price of off-the-shelf
ones. I.e. people can have the final program to be exactly as they
wish, but they won't need to pay too much more for it.
If I release it as PD, the second reason vanishes: a competitor
could pick my tools and do the same as me.
Rac> Whilst I personally agree with the goals and means of the GPL
Rac> to protect and advance "free software" within the current legislative
Rac> climate my prefernce is for public domain as this removes the
Rac> need & cost of ensuring license compliance.
I agree, but see above. I have to show people that there's an
advantage in using REBOL wrt VB or Delphi etc. If not, I won't be
able to use REBOL.
Rac> How do you really ensure absolute global compliance with the terms
Of course you can't! But I can then sue a competitor stealing my
work. (Not that I think this will ever happen, but who knows.)
(I'm referring to "local" competitors; I'm not selling my programs
across the world currently, but mainly to local companies etc.)
Rac> Also how do you define "free for non-commercial use"?
In may case, it is very simple. If you write a REBOL script and it
requires my script to work, then you cannot sell or distribute it
without having a license to do so. (I have to decide the
details... and I'll be happy to give even free-of-charge licenses
to the great people on this list.)
Rac> What about the small guy working from home who just happens to love
Rac> REBOL and see's the benefit of using it to help him along in his business,
Rac> there are loads of potential ambiguities here.
Yes. Then you contact me and ask. I'm not aiming to become rich
with this. I just want to protect myself.
Rac> It's just my opinion but I think it is easier to make money
Rac> from customers / business enterprises & other organisations
Exactly what I want to do. But to be able to do so using REBOL I
have to show it's really better.
Rac> I certainly don't think anybody outside RT Inc. is going to be able to sell a
Rac> REBOL "boxed" software application except perhaps in certain specialist areas,
Rac> definitely not across the current
Rac> spectrum of typical user applications there's just to much other competition
Rac> ranging from Microsoft to all the free software at places like freshmeat & tucows
etc.
Imagine you have a small company. You are not a computer expert,
so even if Access or Excel could solve your problems you are not
able to do it. You need some tools to make your work easier; they
will be very useful to you if they work exactly as you want them
to; they won't be useful to anyone else.
Here I come and provide you a solution. Of course, I have
competition, as you say, so I must prove my solution to be better;
in this case, I cannot demo the solution prior to actually doing
it, so the only "better" here regards to price and time. If can
can offer a competitive price and finish the product in less time
my solution is "better"; then, when you have used it, you can even
appreciate other benefits wrt other solutions (i.e. if it is
smaller, faster, simpler, etc.), and come back to me when you want
other things to be done.
Regards,
Gabriele.
--
Gabriele Santilli <[g--santilli--tiscalinet--it]> -- REBOL Programmer
Amigan -- AGI L'Aquila -- REB: http://web.tiscali.it/rebol/index.r
