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From: pkr@media01.UUCP (Peter Kriens)
Newsgroups: comp.object
Subject: Re: How to pay for reusable software
Message-ID: <2238@media01.UUCP>
Date: 11 Apr 91 09:26:26 GMT
Article-I.D.: media01.2238
References: <1991Apr3.231849.13410@m.cs.uiuc.edu> <jls.671247772@rutabaga>
Reply-To: pkr@media01.UUCP (Peter Kriens)
Organization: Mediasystemen, Netherlands
Lines: 21

I have been involved in a project where a CD was made with thousands of
fonts on it. The fonts were encrypted so if you wanted access, you called
a number and got a decryption key. This key allowed you to get the
font from the disk and use it. On the disk there was also a presentation
of all the fonts so that it was easy to find the one you want. Also 
cross references made life a lot easier.

What I could dream of is a product like that where hundreds of companies
deliver standard libraries for (~rwell Smalltalk would be great, but
C++ would be nice too) C++. So you bought the CD for $25 or something like
that, then when you needed a reusable component you just paid what you needed.
It could be possible to supply the header files as always readable so that
you can design and try without coding.

Ofcourse that would mean distributing source code. But I think that it should
be possible to distribute non commented, symbol replaced C code, jus the way
like a lot of programmers write. Would a product like that be feasable? And
if so how much could you charge, and how many people would be interested?

Peter Kriens
pkr@media01