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Re: LYNX-DEV Re: Setting up a fund for specific development?


From: Greg Stark
Subject: Re: LYNX-DEV Re: Setting up a fund for specific development?
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 10:12:13 -0500 (EST)

> I have no money, or particular personal interest, in 'funding' the
> development of the free software lynx.
> 
> If the lynx community is unable to come up with developers who want
> to work on it for free, then it probably has reached the end of it's
> life cycle from a community point of view.

As RMS put it, when you think of "free" software, think of "free speech" not
"free beer". The model of the software industry that the GPL was designed to
encourage is exactly what these proposals are for. If people need a feature in
software they use they should contract someone to add the feature. Once
written it should be available to all -- the sale was of the service of
writing the feature and the software itself is not property.

I don't want this to devolve into an argument of the feasibility of such a
system. There are obvious limitations and they've been discussed ad nauseum on
gnu.misc.discuss. I'm sure if you skim there now you'll find the same argument
conginuing.

My only point is that there's really nothing contrary to the idea of free
software, at least as endorsed by the FSF and the GPL. In fact GCC has a
number of ports written for paying customers who contracting for the features
they needed--The ADA front-end is even being contracted by the US Military

Lynx has (or rather could if not for the US export laws) also benefitted from
payed development of the SSL support. It was developped (at least once) by
students at MIT, not as a research project, but because they needed it for
some student services.

PS: I'm seriously considering working on table support for Lynx. But I haven't
looked at the Lynx source. Is there anything about the Lynx design that makes
it hard or are people just being intimidated by the complexity of html tables?
(The latter doesn't faze me. i worked on Emacs-W3's table support. The former
could send me running back to lisp:)

greg

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