The economics of D

[Dan]

Sean Kelly Wrote:

> Frits van Bommel wrote:
> > Peter C. Chapin wrote:
> >> dan wrote:
> >>
> >>> My only major concern lies in that d isnt open source and is 
> >>> therefore bound to walter.  if he goes, so does D.
> >>>
> >>> Maybe we should get life insurance on him?
> >>
> >> Is there any reason (I'm thinking legal, mostly) why someone else
> >> couldn't in principle independently implement a D compiler? The D
> >> community is reasonably large and full of smart people, so I'm sure the
> >> talent exists. Right now the motivation for creating a third party
> >> compiler is low, but if Walter disappeared that might change.
> > 
> > An independent D compiler isn't a problem. There are even several in the 
> > works already.
> > The more likely problem is the D spec: it's copyrighted by Digital Mars, 
> > so only Digital Mars (and those it authorizes[1] to do so) may 
> > distribute it (and presumably nobody else may distribute modified 
> > versions). So until copyright runs out (unless Walter/Digital Mars 
> > transfers control of the spec over to some other person or 
> > organization[2]) the only option for continued evolution of the language 
> > may be a complete rewrite of the spec (perhaps based on the available 
> > compiler, but not on the current spec).
> > 
> > 
> > [1] I'm not sure if anyone else is currently authorized; even Tango 
> > (which has permission to redistribute DMD itself) seems to leave the 
> > spec out of their binary distributions that include DMD.
> 
> Frankly, it's a topic we never broached with Walter.  We've simply been 
> trying to keep the inclusion of Digital Mars stuff to a minimum as an 
> act of good faith.

Walter,make it gnu if u pass on.  i dont trust anyone in particular to carry the torch.