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[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