Re: Does this model work ?

[Robert Dewar <robert_dewar@my-dejanews.com>]

In article <373e38e2.31311363@news2.ibm.net>,
  jmarten@ibm.net (Jean-Marten Marchi) wrote:
> After all, with all this Open Source Software movement
> nowadays, is it possible to distribute applications in source
> code form (rather in bytecode form) to various devices or
> stations?

The idea of distributing programs in source form as the ultimate
way of providing portable distribution is as old as computing
itself, certainly much older than the idea of byte codes (which
was popularized 20 years ago by UCSD Pascal).

The open source movement did not invent the first idea, and
Java did not invent the second!

Yes, of course this is a practical idea, it is the cornerstone
of the free software movement, and the GNU project, and has
been used for all sorts of software.

Indeed one way to look at Java is that it is a way of achieving
some of the goals of source distribution without actually having
to distribute sources, which appeals to those who want to keep
their code proprietary and their sources secret.



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