Re: Gauntlet: source code anyone ?

[Frederick M Avolio <fred () avolio com>]

I am not, by nature, a pragmatist, but if we looked pragmatically, we'd see
that the winners in the industry (any industry, I guess) are not
necessarily the best solutions and certainly not the vendors who give away
their source code (for any reason). When you allow anyone, including your
competitors, to see your source code, you are trusting in either their good
nature or in the legal system to protect your rights. On the former, I am
Pauline in my theology, which doesn't allow for "basic good nature in man"
but if I were a pragmatist, I'd not believe it either, by observation. So,
we're left with the latter, which generates a lot of money for lawyers, but
does not guarantee that justice will be done, even if one spends a whole
lot of money.

I suspect at least 3 commercially available firewalls of originally
(version 1) being based on DEC SEAL code or FWTK code, both of which were
delivered with source code. It was never worth the effort and risk to do
anything about that...

All this assumes being in the business (again, any business) to make money
for yourself, your employees, and others, while providing something that
enhances someone else's life or business.


Fred
Avolio Consulting
16228 Frederick Road, PO Box 609, Lisbon, MD 21765
410-309-6910 (voice)            410-309-6911 (fax)
http://www.avolio.com/