Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: My open source dilemma
Author: Paul Snively Posted: 8/15/2000; 7:31:27 PM Topic: scriptingNews outline for 8/15/2000 Msg #: 19743 (In response to 19739) Prev/Next: 19742 / 19744
I'd like to reiterate a point I've made before, which is that "open source" isn't an all-or-nothing perspective on any given piece of software. To use an example close to home, we don't have the source code to the Frontier kernel, but we have tons and tons of UserTalk source code to learn from, use, and even change if it helps us in some way. The big questions here are about redistribution rights and the like.An example that's nearer and dearer to my own heart is the computer gaming industry. Games for years now have been made along strong engine/level lines. Gamers don't get the source code to the engine, but they get a level editor at worst, and these days it's more like a level editor, DLL source code for the client of the engine, etc. You can do everything from new levels for the game to what's called a "total conversion," all with the blessing of the game company, because at the end of the day, they're in the biz of selling engines (and their own games based on that engine, so the more engines sold, the better for their market). If they can sell the first game for $50 retail and each "expansion pack" for $25 retail, they can make a LOT of money if they're successful (e.g. id Software). But it's in their best interests to provide the source code to their client software and their editing tools, and increasingly, they do.
The major point here is that you can architect your software such that there's an aftermarket for the part you don't release the source to, for a certain class of software.
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