Re: [Enigma-devel] Enigma on iPhone

[Ronald Lamprecht]

Hi,

Andreas Lochmann wrote:
> When Mr Jobs says
>
>   "The App Store is going to be the exclusive way to distribute
>   iPhone applications"
>
> this means: He wants to control the software. From a legal
> point of view, we'd give up our rights to distribute the code
> through other means than App Store -- and we end up with unfree
> code. "Unfree", because it is bound by a single instance, by
> Apple, who then is in exclusive control of the software,
> regardless of what we developers wanted.
> There might not be a high tax -- but a high price.

I have heard these arguments quite a few times, but I can not agree or 
at least I can not see an essential difference to many other situations.

When I rent some webspace on a commercial administrated web server I do 
pay money and the operator determines what software packages I may use 
and he may request extra money if I ask him to install some software I 
like to use. If I do not like his offer, I will choose another provider. 
But I should not blame one provider for not offering everything for free.

I don't think that we give up our rights to distribute the code. We 
still can, will and must offer our sources. Look at a magazine 
distributing Enigma on a DVD. They get money for the distribution and we 
can not force them to add Enigma to their next DVD.

BTW in many countries you can even not distribute Enigma on a DVD to a 
friend of yours without paying royality fees to some central 
institution, that will never pay a cent to the open source community.

Thus for me it is solely a decision of the customer to buy an iPhone or 
another brand.

Concerning Enigma I do intend to check the possibility of an iPhone port 
directly after the 1.10 release. There have been other requests and if 
the iPhone users are willing to support the project by distribution fees 
   all other users would profit, too.

Greets,

Ronald