> From: Don Schoeman [mailto:ds@...]

Hi,

I can answer a couple of your questions.

> Question 1:
> Did Borland/Inprise/(almost CorelInprise) decide to drop Local InterBase
> from their development packages? I'm a Delphi developer and would like to
> know whether I'm going to see the InterBase component package in Delphi 6.

IBX development is continuing, there is a Dialect 3 BDE driver in
development, but the BDE is in 'maintenance mode' (read Dead), and is to be
replaced by dbDirect in Kylix/Delphi6, this will have InterBase drivers.

> Question 2:
> How did the InterBase user license fee's work before the open
> sourcing saga.

Either a server licence and 'concurrent' user licences, or an unlimited
server licence.

> Question 3:
> How will the user license fee's work now and how much does it cost?

No licences, nor fees, no cost, its free. You can of cause pay for support
contracts etc. from www.ibphoenix.com.

> Question 4:
> From who and how will the IB-Phoenix people receive their income?
> Will it be from the user license fee's only?

There are no licences fees, their income will come from providing support
and other facilities like custom builds etc. But I am sure Ann et al can
explain better.

Cheers

Phil