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: 103376,3cd3b8571c28b75f X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-08-25 14:07:35 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: aek@vib.usr.pu.ru (Alexander Kopilovitch) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: A Customer's Request For Open Source Software Date: 25 Aug 2003 14:07:34 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Message-ID: References: <3F44BC65.4020203@noplace.com><20030822005323.2ff66948.david@realityrift.com> <20030822020403.625ffbf5.david@realityrift.com> <3F4657AD.1040908@attbi.com> <3F4828D9.8050700@attbi.com> <3F48D263.8060004@noplace.com> <3F48E863.3080806@attbi.com> <3F4A02FB.5050504@noplace.com> <3F4A17D5.3000307@attbi.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 62.152.82.61 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1061845655 18258 127.0.0.1 (25 Aug 2003 21:07:35 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 25 Aug 2003 21:07:35 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:41854 Date: 2003-08-25T21:07:35+00:00 List-Id: Robert I. Eachus wrote > Ah, the perils of decent design and encapsulation! If the database > interface and transaction management protocol are properly encapsulated > these changes are trivial. But if they are trivial, you will have a > hard time charging for them if the base system is free... It is rarely trivial to recognize properly what your customer (of this kind) really needs -- even for himself -- because his mindset on the matter usually has neither decent design nor encapsulation. Therefore real job of customization in this domain is not to make changes, but to determine which changes are needed. The problem space for the domain is complex enough, but every single customer occupies small part of it. And most of that small part is, as a rule, quite common and easily identifiable, but almost always there are some bits, which are rather specific and at the same time important for this particular customer. Sometimes the crucial moment is simply to determine properly whether specifics is present or absent. So, perhaps, more proper way will be to aim not directly to end-user, but to some sort of consultant, who will install the product for a customer. Alexander Kopilovitch aek@vib.usr.pu.ru Saint-Petersburg Russia