Columbia Kermit/kermit.zip/newsgroups/misc.19950929-19951130/[e-mail]_Sat Oct 21 14:24:55 1995.msg

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From: [e-mail] (Frank da Cruz)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Subject: Re: how to get  DOS kermit c source code?
Date: 21 Oct 1995 14:24:55 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
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In article <4672ol$[e-mail]>, Leslie Mikesell <[e-mail]> wrote:
>...
>No, I don't have trouble understanding it, they just aren't free if
>you want to modify them and restribute them to do something useful,
>or to use them as part of a service.  In other words they are only
>free if you don't need them.
>
>Think back 10 years ago and consider which of "kermit" or "a full
>tcp/ip implementation" you would have expected to find included
>at no extra cost in small computer operating systems, which would
>be used more for dial-up communications, which would be available
>in source code with modifications for special purposes from
>many sources.  I guessed wrong.  And the difference is not in whether
>the code is copyrighted or not.  It has to do with which university
>owns the copyright and what the fine print says.  But I wish I could
>dig up those copies from the early eighties where the code was
>contributed from many sources and I thought the emphasis was on keeping
>it free so I could see if my memory is just getting hazy.
>
This topic comes up over and over again, and those who are interested in
it can read the archives of this newsgroup, as well as comp.dcom.modems,
comp.os.vms, and others to see the many viewpoints and arguments that have
been expressed, over and over again.

Yes, the original spirit has changed.  So have the times.  So has the
net.  So has everything.  This is not the same world as the one we
started out in back in 1981.  To summarize, once again, very briefly:

Originally, the Kermit project was funded to develop Kermit protocol and
(yes, copyrighted) communications software, and we gladly gave it away to
everybody.

Now the project is no longer funded.  From the period 1990-1994 or
thereabouts we were able to fund our own work through book sales and
software distribution fees.  Then, about a year ago, people stopped
purchasing books and ordering software from us.  Not because demand for
and use of the software is diminishing -- quite the contrary -- but
because they can get it more easily by ftp (easier now than ever with Web
browsers) or on somebody's CDROM where it was put without permission, in
violation of the copyright.

Without revenues, the Kermit project will disappear.  Now, as Joe pointed
out, all the Kermit software (except Kermit 95) is free to the end user,
BUT NOT TO THE RESELLER.  The only people who complain about this policy
are the ones who want to take our work, sell it (or bundle it with a
product, or put it on a CDROM which they sell), and contribute nothing
back to us in return.  There is no better way to kill the Kermit project,
and we have a responsibility to our millions (yes, millions) of users not
to let that happen.

- Frank