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[REBOL] Re: Follow Up: What's Up Rebol?

From: jason:cunliffe:verizon at: 7-Mar-2002 13:01

> Now this might interfere with RT Inc. current busines plan and attempts to
get revenues but how many people are actually buying and using /Pro & /Command when they can get the same or more functionality & libraries freely from other languages like JAVA, Javascript, Perl, PHP, Python etc.
> These languages are all available for NO FEE and are entrenched in both
the client and server sides. Yes I agree. This is very important point. Even a recent trivial example reveals the problem: I just added a link on my admin web page to run a Linux shell script to update my server log reports. I had to do it in PHP, as I only have REBOL/Command for win32: <?php system("/etc/webalizer_all_sites", $return); ?> If I want to keep using REBOL on this site [and I do], I imagine I'll be doing lots of hybrid programming with Python and PHP to overcome REBOL's default system/shell limitations. But its messy and annoying. Or did I miss something ?? I cannot really convince [not-for-profit] site owners to spend a $350 for something we don't functionally need. As a developer, I would be in a stronger position if I paid the /Command $350 price once, but were then free to take the preferred tool with me across platform and project. At least if REBOL/Command offered inclusive cross-platform support for one price, it would been consistent with write-once run-eveywhere philosophy. RT follows Macromedia strategy where developers must buy Mac and Win32 copies at full price everytime. Most only use the second copy for testing, and have been railing [unsuccessfully] for years against MM to offer developer incentives. If not willing to offer single cross-platform proce how about a radical discount for the additional platform copies. I think RT is in a terrible bind here.. How to generate income without discouraging or obstructing developers? Decent income comes probably not from selling a handful of developer kits but from selling applications made with it. There's *many* more people willing to buy cool, useful easy-to-run easy-to-install applications for $19.95, $49.95 than innovative off-the-radar languages. I guess that's the thinking behind IOS but somehow it does not hit me that way. The catch-22 is that people buying applications really don't care what they were written with as long as they work well. Except when the applications features openScripting with 'xyz' language. AREXX anyone? ./Jason