Re: Open source?

[Benedikt Stefansson]

> DS> I think I saw a statement that Swarm is open source, but I haven't
> DS> been able to find the open source. I have found the Reference
> DS> Guide in swarmdocs/refbook-java/. Is the source code for all the
> DS> packages and classes available to look at?
>
> In Swarm for Java, when you send a message to, say, a ScheduleImpl,
> that's a class made up of methods tagged as `native'.  Those native
> methods map to automatically-generated functions that make calls on
> Swarm.  There are just a few Java source files, in fact.  This is all
> in: ftp://ftp.santafe.edu/pub/swarm/swarm-2.0.1.tar.gz and later
> snapshots at ftp://ftp.santafe.edu/pub/swarm/testing.

I've had this question come up so many times: "Where are the sources for
object X?". It is truly bizzare that there are users out there that don't
have a copy of the source or even the HTML documentation.

It seems that our trusty developers created such an efficient
installation proceedure for Wintel and Linux users that many people only
end up downloading and seeing the executables, not the rest of the
goodies.

How about somehow putting the source code links next to the executable
links in the website so you can't miss it, and in the InstallShield
version install the source code and documentation also unless the user
explicitly checks it off?

I think essentially that no one should be using this thing without having
a copy of the source code AND the documentation. Looking at source is
always the best way to learn. Grep is your friend.

Benedikt

Benedikt Stefansson      | address@hidden
CASA, Inc.               | Ph : (505) 988-8807 x101
Santa Fe, NM 87501       | Fax: (505) 988-3440




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