Re: Proving Correctness (was Java Portability)

["Marin David Condic" <dont.bother.mcondic.auntie.spam@[acm.org>]

I'm not sure what you are suggesting here. If what you mean is that your
company would pay to have some product developed (cost plus) and that it
would Open Source (some flavor of GPL?) the end result, I'd have no problem
with that. That's a work made for hire. Take the end result and do whatever
you like with it.

The rest is a matter of what and for how much.

If you are suggesting that perhaps a consortium of companies could/would
fund the development of some software product that they all wanted and would
pay salaries to the programmers and would eventually Open Source the end
result, I'd again have no problem with it.

It comes down to the Golden Rule. He who has the Gold makes the Rules. :-)

If you're suggesting that someone build you what you want and you'll give
them some modicum of cash and they keep the end result with the hope that
they can find some additional buyers, and one of the conditions is that the
source be provided to you with minimal restriction? I certainly don't
object. But it again comes down to what and how much? If the "what" is a
million SLOC of specialized code suitable only to your particular company
and the "how much" is $0.50, I don't think you'll find many takers.

My only objection to the Open Source thing is the notion that I as a
software developer should do all this work and give it away with no thought
as to remuneration. (That somehow it is "dirty" or "impure" to expect to
earn a living from making {Sacred Music, please} *Software!*) This is
especially onerous in my mind if someone else is going to take the software
I write and sell it in some way and never give me a nickel. I'm not opposed
to Open Source - in some cases that may make very good sense. (BTW,
depending on what you mean by "Open Source" - something done under the ADCL
might just qualify. You get the source. You don't have to pay for it. You
can use it and modify it freely. You don't have to ADCL your code by using
ADCL code. You just can't sell it without giving the original author
something in return. Maybe this isn't "Open Source(tm)" - but it certainly
is visable, usable, modifyable source at no cost - until you decide to
resell it.)

MDC
--
Marin David Condic
Senior Software Engineer
Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
Enabling the digital revolution
e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/


"Georg Bauhaus" <sb463ba@l1-hrz.uni-duisburg.de> wrote in message
news:9krak1$3f4$1@a1-hrz.uni-duisburg.de...
> And, now speaking for my company, we have actually once made
> a somewhat more substantial offer for the development
> of open code that we wouldn't own, and everyone could use.
> Could that be an option for you, in principal?
>
>