Re: Licences

[Ludovic Brenta <ludovic@ludovic-brenta.org>]

Martin Krischik <krischik@users.sourceforge.net> writes:

> Michael Bode wrote:
>
>> Martin Krischik <krischik@users.sourceforge.net> writes:
>> 
>>> I really consider a dual licence now making the GMGPL version only
>>> available to those who made a suitable donation to the
>>> projects. Even if it's only €5,-- - at least it shows good will.
>> 
>> Why not charge 14000€ per year?
>
> Because I am not greedy - I just despise freeloading.
>
>>> In only thing I would wish for from AdaCore is a zero seat offer -
>>> just a gnat tracker account with download (GMGPL) option but
>>> without priority
>> 
>> I don't think that's going to happen. I've got a quote from them
>> for GNAT Windows, Linux and GtkAda. Minimum cost is 28000€ per
>> year. When I asked for version more in the range of Microsoft's
>> offerings they told me their support is better. When I answered I
>> believe that but I would be completely happy with the kind of
>> support that GNAT GPL receives, I've got no answer.
>
> I think that is the real problem here. When I talked with AdaCore
> they said that cheaper offers made no sense and there was the free
> version for that.  Problem now is that the free version is GPL and
> the gap between the free version and PRO version has deepened -
> while what we actually need a smaller gap between them.

I agree with Martin.  Personally, I think that this gap can be filled
by "the community", provided enough people spend a little time to
report problems, fix a couple of bugs that are particularly annoying
to them, and contribute their fix to "the community".  This way, all
fixes, as well as advice on workarounds and whatnot, can be shared and
benefit everyone - including AdaCore, who eventually will receive the
fixes.  I have solid proof [1] that this works in practice.  A user of
GPS in Debian reported a problem, but I was unable to solve it myself.
I filed a bug in the Debian bug tracking system, and several other
people I'd never heard about stepped up and did solve the problem.
Then I submitted the fix back to AdaCore, and the fix is now in GPS
3.0 for everyone to enjoy.

[1] http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=297980

The moral of the story is this: if you find a bug in GNAT, report it.
Every bug report is a contribution to "the community".  If you have
the time and skills to research the bug and fix it, this is better and
is another contribution to "the community".

I too despise freeloaders, but a freeloader who spends the time and
effort to report a bug in a detailed manner is no longer a freeloader
to me.

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.