Justin:
Thanks ... but I couldn't care less.
I have neither the time nor inclination to examine NuSphere's motives.
I am a business man, and I made a business decision.
Gerald Jensen
-----Original Message-----
From: jef@stripped
[mailto:jef@stripped]On Behalf Of Justin Farnsworth
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 7:49 AM
To: Gerald R. Jensen
Cc: monty@stripped; mysql@stripped; win32@stripped
Subject: Re: mysql.org
"Gerald R. Jensen" wrote:
>
> Monty:
>
> I was on the verge of authorizing the purchase of 3 copies of NuSphere's
> PHPEd package (US$300 each) for our developers when I became aware of the
> controversy surrounding 'Enhanced MySQL' and mysql.org.
>
> The purchase order went into the round file, and Hell will freeze over
> before I buy anything from NuSphere.
>
> A small gesture, perhaps, but an appropriate one. At least our company
won't
> be contributing to their largess. Even people with such deplorable
business
> ethics understand a loss of income from sales.
[==== snip, snip ===============]
Do not jump to the conclusion that I am starting out to be an apologist
for NuSphere/Progress. It is wise to honor the old dictum
"Never ascribe malice to that which can be attributed to ignorance".
I am not sure if this type of emotional leap is proper until a
bit more information comes out and some of the heat dies down.
There are always two sides to every situation.
There are two issues, the domain mysql.org, and the other, more
difficult to understand, the aspect of "GPL violation".
The domain/trademark issue will get settled by legal means and
there is enough of a corpus of law precedent that a settlement
and/or judgement will occur. I personally do not see such a great
importance of mysql.org in this matter. Obviously, many of you
on this list do not share this opinion.
Now most of us in/using Open Source probably do not _really_
understand the meaning and ramifications of the GPL. We _think_
we know, and we certainly have a "feeling" about what the GPL
"means". Ironically, Richard Stallman's take is, in a legal sense,
crystal clear compared with the GPL. NuSphere indicated that
is was going to put their products under the GPL. They have
indicated that Gemini will be GPL's. Are they to be punished
for "being late" in doing so? NuSphere supports Open Source
and is public on this position.
The irony of this situation is that it _may_ be to the advantage
of the Open Source community if NuSphere is not knee-jerked
pilloried, and tarred and feathered out of the minds of the
Open Source community. It is complete speculation upon my
part that ultimately, MySQL will be replaced in all those
embedded applications where Progress now sits. Though it
may change in the near future, commercial developers needing
an embedded database usually prefer a solution like Progress
because of the Company-behind-it, rather than have MySQL.
MySQL may/would gain credibility if Progress is replaced.
Now, I hope this is all settled to everybody's benefit.
It may not be possible because of emotion. But I know that
I would personally like to see MySQL start to creep into
large manufacturing management systems and other systems
where Progress now has a significant hold. Then, and only
then, will the community be able to easily "tap into" MySQL and
offer better intranets, tools, and other solutions.
So, I am suggesting to everyone to just "wait and see". It
might not be as bad as it seems...
--
Justin Farnsworth - Technical Director
Eye Integrated Communications
321 South Evans - Suite 203
Greenville, NC 27858 | Tel: (252) 353-0722
