avid, you comments suggest that its "all or nothing" when it comes to open
source. That any commercial benefit of an open source effort violates some
rule about open source. That anyone who suggests commercial benefit just
doesn't get it. You could not be further from the truth.

While your view is certainly shared by many, it represents one somewhat
extreme end of the spectrum.

The Interbase community debated all this 6 months ago. We pretty much came
to the conclusion that having a commercial entity supporting the product
via regular software development efforts, published documentation, and
technical support contracts would be good for Interbase and good for the
community as a whole. This does not mean that the Interbase community is
prevented from doing other things, splintering the code base, exploring new
modifications, etc. It does mean there is a solid level of support
available for any Interbase users who want to take advantage of it.

Does this somehow violate some rules of open source? I don't think so. The
essential elements are there. The spirit of OSS is there. The OSS community
is there.

I would ask you to work within the framework we are already trying to
establish and not try to change it too much at this point. (Inprise has
already done so much to screw it up already!)