[Oberon] revisions in sources.

[Skulski, Wojciech]

Chris:

 I think that the maintenance of SW tools is not because they are paid for or otherwise, but because they are being used by a third party. I know examples of academic research tools, which are not commercial, but are well maintained nevertheless.

I think that the somewhat relaxed Oberon System approach is because it is not mission critical to anyone. Correct me if I am wrong, but I am not sure if any project is currently developed using Oberon System. Thus, keeping track of Oberon System evolution is not that critical. 

This situation would change if and when the Oberon System would become critical to someone. That someone will be forced to take over Oberon System maintenance to bring it to a level sufficient for the needs of the project. 

W.
________________________________________
From: Oberon [oberon-bounces at lists.inf.ethz.ch] on behalf of Chris Burrows [chris at cfbsoftware.com]
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2016 8:04 PM
To: 'ETH Oberon and related systems'
Subject: Re: [Oberon] revisions in sources.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Oberon [mailto:oberon-bounces at lists.inf.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of
> peter at easthope.ca
> Sent: Saturday, 17 September 2016 12:43 AM
> To: oberon at lists.inf.ethz.ch
> Subject: [Oberon] Re (2): revisions in sources.
>
> > If I am interested in the detail of the code changes I keep
> snapshots
> > of the source folder(s) and use a difference listing / merge tool
> like
> > BeyondCompare (a Windows application by Scooter Software) to
> identify
> > /synchronise the code changes.
>
> A personal archive.  You don't sell Astobe with a list of revisions
> for the buyer to make before using.  Correct?
>

Not correct - 'sell' is the key difference here. Every release of the
*commercial* version of Astrobe is accompanied by a document called e.g.
'What's New in Astrobe for Cortex-M4'. This summarises the new features and
the bugs fixed since the last major release. For an example see:

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.astrobe.com_Cortex-2DM4_WhatsNew.htm&d=CwICAg&c=kbmfwr1Yojg42sGEpaQh5ofMHBeTl9EI2eaqQZhHbOU&r=uUiA_zLpwaGJIlq-_BM9w1wVOuyqPwHi3XzJRa-ybV0&m=Ul3DTD_wgpFLid0w1fZqWIcArnq1kz6K8Iepx1h8GQI&s=BImj-l0bJoZt5Mti8tOqUgywPntCWZo2Y8Lxtxvg-Q8&e=

In my mind there is a clear distinction between commercial and
non-commercial software. (Note that I deliberately refrain from the use of
the ambiguous term 'free' - it means too many different things to different
people).

My comments were made in the context of software where the source code is
provided without any monetary requirements or other strings attached e.g.
Project Oberon. I am extremely grateful to such authors (e.g. Niklaus and
Paul) and would not *expect* them to do any additional work which I am
capable of doing myself. Anything above and beyond the source code itself
that the authors *choose* to provide (e.g. documentation, support etc.) I
consider to be an unexpected bonus - certainly not a requirement.

However, I have very different requirements for the commercial software
products that I willingly pay money for. I then have an expectation that I
will have to spend less of my time in order to get productive use out of the
product. I expect the vendor to comply with the terms and conditions that we
have agreed upon. The more I pay for a product, the better service and
support I expect.

Everything that I do in relation to my commercial software is based on the
assumption that my customers have the same expectations as me,

Regards,
Chris

Chris Burrows
CFB Software
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.astrobe.com&d=CwICAg&c=kbmfwr1Yojg42sGEpaQh5ofMHBeTl9EI2eaqQZhHbOU&r=uUiA_zLpwaGJIlq-_BM9w1wVOuyqPwHi3XzJRa-ybV0&m=Ul3DTD_wgpFLid0w1fZqWIcArnq1kz6K8Iepx1h8GQI&s=WjaypfH8aJuow2pDpCCU6p2uJir5SnFbvXFghPyeSEM&e=





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