Re: request to ban 'no source' contributions
> Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 19:15:55 +0100
> From: Pete Lomax <petelomax at blueyonder.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: request to ban 'no source' contributions
>
>
> Oooh, a flame war.. let me join in 
>
> It goes without saying that everyone on this list prefers open source.
>
> However I see no reason whatsoever to prohibit closed source or
> even /commercial/ entries. That applies not only to programs and
> libraries a programmer might find useful, but also applications whose
> only relevance is to showcase what can be achieved with Euphoria.
>
I'm afraid I thoroughly disagree with you on this.
I see no reason whatsoever to allow or promote closed source. If a project is
easy to clone, there's no relevance in selling it under any form, and that
very act should be outlawed probably. If it's sophisticated enough, there
won't be any serious cloning at all.
Regulations on intellectual property equally apply to open or closed source,
so that binding cannot take any commercial argument as an excuse. Things that
are worthy of being sold don't get pirated, only overpriced software is. Or
software with unduly harsh licensing terms.
> Even if something is free, but there is no source, so /you/ will not
> use it, why do you want to limit /my/ options?
>
If something is closed, you have to rely on the author for updating,
enhancing, fixing bugs etc. The author may not be there any longer/in a mood
to/have time for/etc maintain its own stuff for long. That's exactly what
ex(.)*.exe has been suffering from.
Bound code has no benefits by itself, as it limits the user's possibilities
and imparts much higher maintainance costs to whoever cares to maintain the
code. And it may raise the security concerns that were voiced here earlier. In
a nutshell, it's a lose/lose thing.
This does not mean canned or somehow (pre)compiled pieces of code, like
..dll/.so files, are not useful. They are, but please give me any reason why
the source should not be available on request, charges covering handling costs?
The only one I cab see is some lingering habits from the past, where compiled
code was definitely faster than anything interpreted. Mildly true 10 years
ago, just untrue now.
Joe, please don't misread me:
I didn't take time to test VE yet. It may or may not be dangerous, it may or
it may not be a great app: I have no opinion on either count. Binding is a
slap in the face of programmers at large, that's all. Another Eu misfeature...
Regards
CChris
> Regards,
> Pete
>
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