[pmmail-list] New Edition of PMMail

[Dr. Martin R. Hadam]

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 11:48:32 -0500 (EST), Walter F. Metcalf wrote:

>The answer to both is questions is that VOICE has in hand a 
>definite offer to sell the source code (and the copyright).
>VOICE wouldn't have made these announcements unless this were so.
>What VOICE has to do now is to decide what to do with this offer. 
>The Poll was designed to give us information to help us make this decision.
>I hope this clarifies some of the confusion surrounding this offer.

 Thanks for providing more datapoints - but I doubt you will get a
valid answer from your survey. 

 Since your have a definite offer on your desk - why not publish the
actual amount of money involved? and just collect the money required
for the purchase. If you're asking people this way you will get all the
SPONSORS you need in no time. Set the goat and start collecting. Don't
opensource (at the moment) but keep the code closed source and have the
software distributed as CharityWare like ProNews/2. This IS a proven
model and there's another benefit in that there is already an excellent
developer waiting to work on PMMail. Since Trevor Hemsley has already
approached BSW for the code but was denied (as I read on another list)
I should probably add that all is needed is an email to Trevor to get
things started.

 There is a definite advantage in keeping the code closed source (at
least for the time being): you can start with the real thing right away
and since - my guess - there won't be many other contributors in the
first place, open sourcing as such won't provide a benefit by more
people working on it. Yet, one could still do that further down the
road.

 VOICE (or any other organisation) would thus only be in charge as the
legal owner of the copyright and (when paid by sponsors) required to
pass on the copyrighted code to another noncommercial entity at nominal
cost in case VOICE is being dissolved. This is simply to keep the code
available to the public in a nonprofit setting (until eventually fully
open-sourced).

 Just some food for thought...

 Martin


 Martin R. Hadam
 Kinderklinik - Medizinische Hochschule
 D-30623 Hannover
 Germany
 Email: Hadam.Martin@MH-Hannover.de