[REBOL] Re: Licensing, components ... Re: REBOL FAQ updated
From: jason:cunliffe:verizon at: 13-Sep-2002 18:30
> Just to voice my own opinion...
>
> << The only reason people will use REBOL these days is because they have
> fallen in
> love with the language and love to explore. >>
>
> Or because they can see the potential and are willing to a) deal with the
> licensing issues; or b) work with RT to come up with a licensing model that
> is viable for them.
Hi Gregg
Yes. Thanks for your clarifying your position.
The irony is that I also agree with your arguments.
I don't have any quarrel with RT about making money. They truly deserve it.
But it's not really the price that counts. There are other obstacles to certain
kinds of software and perceived obstacles.
My concern is for the reality that's out there now, the trends and options.
REBOL really needs a boost to get more people to appreciate it, both developers
and their commercial clients.
I am really in favor of your option b) [work with RT].
Surely there is a better way to enable features up-front, but still manage
further professional commercial licensing of them?
REBOL is little known or documented. This mailing list is THE place and a
wonderful group it is.
But a simple trip to the book store shows what the public and commercial
obstacles are. So people need extra motivation and time to get up to speed and
create with REBOL.
Encap + call/shell access are the ones which I consider essential.
Why not even just open these with some clear conditions:
a. ENCAP 90-day any non-commercial demo use, then application displays licensing
messages and connects to RT.
b. ENCAP n-applications, no time limit. fixed price
c. ENCAP Education
d. ENCAP developer
e. ENCAP full commercial end-user
Perhaps you have a better idea...
Since REBOL has built-in messaging I don't understand why that can't be used as
part of a transparent licensing 'engine' attached to demo and other versions.
I believe that if more people knew of real-world ENCAP uses, they would be more
willing to trust and buy it without trial. I have no idea who uses it, how well
it works, what's really involved and cannot even read the docs on it.
I can find no examples 'Made with Encap'.
Even the 'search' tool on rebol.com has never heard of it!!
Apart from some rare old messages in the list archives I might be tempted to
conclude that Encap is either buggy as hell, vaporware, or else the best kept
secret this side of the rocky mountains.
Other commercial software release partial demo versions with save disabled or
similar strategies such as graphics apps which overwrite a demo text. I imagine
that Encap is a little more complicated, and needs people to get hands-on for a
while.
Maybe I am going about this all wrong and should be directly contacting RT and
negotiating for special consideration. You email sort of implies that is the way
to go. Can anyone shed light on this?
I hate to be openly critical of RT marketing/licensing. I even get email
off-list from people who agree, but do not wish to say so publicly in this
forum. But REBOL is so interesting that it kills me not to see it grow.
./Jason