From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,be23df8e7e275d73 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-08-11 16:17:59 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news2.google.com!newsfeed.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newshub2.home.com!news.home.com!news2.rdc2.tx.home.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3B75C020.E00D149C@home.com> From: Larry Elmore X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.4.7 i586) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Proving Correctness (was Java Portability) References: <9jrt62$38t$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <3B619A6D.5DD6E782@home.com> <3B6636BA.96FD8348@home.com> <9kb3ub$hdo$1@a1-hrz.uni-duisburg.de> <9kchn1$lng$1@a1-hrz.uni-duisburg.de> <9kea9a$lsc$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <9keduf$qvc$1@a1-hrz.uni-duisburg.de> <9kelv1$riq$1@a1-hrz.uni-duisburg.de> <9klokd0nif@drn.newsguy.com> <3B706ADC.B4847AC3@home.com> <9kprk1$pof$1@nh.pace.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 23:17:58 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 65.10.25.74 X-Complaints-To: abuse@home.net X-Trace: news2.rdc2.tx.home.com 997571878 65.10.25.74 (Sat, 11 Aug 2001 16:17:58 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 16:17:58 PDT Organization: Excite@Home - The Leader in Broadband http://home.com/faster Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:11799 Date: 2001-08-11T23:17:58+00:00 List-Id: Marin David Condic wrote: > > "Larry Elmore" wrote in message > news:3B706ADC.B4847AC3@home.com... > > nicolas wrote: > > > > > You don't pay to build the factory, the company invest a lot, and can > count > > > on an income only if the result is good. > > > > You _don't_??!! _WHO DOES_, then, if not the customer? > > > Eventually, the customer pays. But that's a lot different than asking the > customer to fund the development cost up-front. That's what the venture > capitalist or entrepeneur is supposed to do. Actually, I thought that sort of thing isn't uncommon. Of course, there's a lot of contractual complications and financial details involved, but developing a library is hardly on the same level of risk as commercializing a new technology, let alone a new discovery in physics, for example. > I think you are misinterpreting the intention here. I believe the point was > about asking the customer to just simply pay some cost-plus development > money in order to get a library. That is definitely not the same sort of > thing as eventually paying off a business's asset acquisition by repeated > sales of a product. > > IOW: You go build it - if I like it and find it worth the price you charge, > I buy it. It isn't usually done in the other order - unless you're the > government! :-) I don't think any halfway sane company would even attempt to sell anything on those terms (full payment up-front, before anything is provided), but I'm sure a lot of custom software is developed with partial payments paid upon achievement of intermediate goals, and even with some money paid up-front. Certainly a lot of construction jobs are done that way. > > > I'd really like to see you in a TV store :-) > > > "Stephen, give me money now, I'm going to develop a great TV set, build > a > > > factory, and I promise you will have a great TV set within a few years > ..." > > > > Duh... What do you think investors do every day? How in the world do you > > think the vast majority of companies got started in the first place? > > Government mandate, or magic? > > > A bit unfair. An investor is not the same thing as a customer. Sometimes they are. :) I take your point, though. I was a bit unfair, and also rudely sarcastic. I was feeling particularly irritable when I wrote that, and I should've had the sense to review and edit before posting. :( Larry