Re: Ciao from GENERIS!

On Fri, 29 Dec 2000 [email protected] wrote:

> Regarding your concept of 'OPEN' source, how do you beleive to get
> high quality software for free? Nobody releases for free an
> innovative work, in any domain, except if the stuff cannot be
> supported and does not have an immediate business, or because  some
> government rule demands it.
Welcome to the world of open source software :-) Never heard of
Apache, Linux, Sendmail, bind, LaTeX, Octave, Gnome, KDE, Perl, and
hundreds of others. Many of those are powering multi-billion dollar
industries, such as the internet or book publishing.

> Notice also that the European Commission has supported several
> projects with a similar goal, if my memory is good, some of them
> where OSACA and MOSAIC.
The projects produced an open API, but no implementation. And they
certainly are a good starting point for the motion control part of
OROCOS.

> OROCOS is also missing something strong because it is a long term
> project to obtain a commercial system!
The short term goal is to help hundreds of research institutes to get
the software possibilities that commercial companies deny them. And
that projects paid by the public (such as JRC, if I am not mistaken
:-)) deny them to use, although they helped to pay for them.


> I was offering you an opportunity to use a development platform from
> which you could learn (some the comments on the e_mails demonstrate
> your lack of experience in this area),
Please let me know which comments you are alluding to. Our lab has 35
years or robotics experience; we have two spin off companies active in
commercial robotics; we've delivered know how to, for example, KUKA;
we've participated in numerous robotics projects. Other intereted
partners in OROCOS are at least a experienced as we are. And that's
exactly the reason behind OROCOS: we are limited by what commercial
companies offer.


> At the same time you and the consortium members could contribute to
> the system improvement by constructive remarks, having confidential
> info on the system internals and giving the opportunity to your
> specialised software to be marketable!
The key difference between the OROCOS approach and what you suggest is
`confidential info': this restricts innovation in robotics enormously,
because only few people can use and improve developments.

> About confidentiality in the frame of such a collaboration, I mean that
> the consortium members only could have
> the source code under restrictive license agreement.
Wrong partner :-)

> Again, I wish you and the consortium partners very good luck, and if
> some day you feel GENERIS could help you do not hesitate to contact
> us!
Thank you for the offer!

I was very surprised by your harsh remarks, but I must confess you are
not the first one to disbelieve in the potential of open source
software. For your information: more and more commercial companies are
paying to get open source software developed.  Why wouldn't JRC begin
to do the same? Anyway: nobody knows you, and you will never be able
to get your developments into widespread use...  Don't forget the
GENERIS development was also sponsored to a large extent by public
money; by preventing everybody from using the results of these
investments, you prevent lots of SME to provide competitive services
in robotics and automation, which could have a much large positive
effect on European industry than the services that the GENERIS
spin-off(s) are delivering now. Please feel free to prove me wrong: I
am aware of the fact that I don't have a crystal ball and that I
certainly do not possess all relevant background information about
GENERIS. But the contrary is even more true, I guess: as a responsible
person in a large research institute you _should_ have a good
understanding of what is going on in the open source world.


For all clarity: I am not making these statements in order to harm you
or get in conflict with you, but they are the result of a very good
understanding of what open source software can do and is doing all the
time right now. And, in case you would not know: making money with
open source software is not a shame, and certainly not a phantom
business model :-)

Best regards,

Herman

-- 
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