Re: [Fsfe-uk] Funding Open Source

[Paul]

Hi,

> Not at the moment, but schools might want to change from Publisher
> en-masse at some time in the future so they (or someone like me) might
> pay for say a publisher filter.

Thanks to Chris Puttick, I've now been sent a .pub file with the
associated PDF of what it is supposed to do. It's a typical MS file
(full of filler). Unfortunately, it looks like a complete swine to
decode. I could be wrong as I've not looked too much into it.

> > One of the other alternatives is to setup a company based around selling
> > Scribus. This time you probably do get to keep working on Scribus, but
> > then you have all sorts of other pesky stuff to deal with - lots of
> > customers, support, etc...
> 
> Ah well its like schools. Fine when there are no kids there ;-) If you
> want to work for yourself or in a small business you have to accept that
> its more than just doing one task.

Scribus has that taken care of (for the most part) by the mailing list.
Both Franz and I go on it for bug reports etc with Peter Linnell
fielding a lot of the questions. Works quite well :-)

> I guess many here would hope that EULAs
> > don't count for an awful lot, and that the right to reverse engineer is
> > protectable. But, these days, who knows?
> 
> Only one way to find out ;-)

And a darned expensive way as well. If Scribus had implemented the
formats I'd hacked and written and (say) Quark decided to take us to
court, there would be no way under the sun Franz or myself could pay for
it and for something like this, I doubt there would be any aid.

Hmmm, isn't this what the FSF has lawyers for?

TTFN

Paul
-- 
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