??? 06/27/05 20:29 Read: times |
#96051 - Not quite the same Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Bartosz Wucke said:
I'm just stating a simple truth: For the customer, a closed-source program is a product of lower value than identical in all other respects open-source alternative - strictly because of levels of maintainablity and control from the customer side Erik Malund said:
That is noyt a "simple truth" but a "simple falsehood".
How many have switched or wanted to switch from Keil to SDCC? how many have switched or wanted to switch from SDCC to Keil? That's not quite a fair comparison since Keil and SDCC are not "identical in all other respects." I would tend to agree that, all things being equal, an open source option that is identical to a closed-source option is going to be more attractive. At best, the source code is available. At worst, the customer doesn't want it. But I can't imagine that if Keil Software were to offer the source code to their compiler with every license at no added cost that most people would decline, or would be less inclined to buy Keil because the code was available. On the other hand, some non-zero number of customers would probably take them up on it. The only question is whether it makes business sense to open up the code since opening up the source code would make their package available to some non-zero number of leeches that want a professional compiler for free. But in terms of what the customer wants, the customer almost always wants more... not less. And source code is "more." Regards, Craig Steiner |