> Generally, I'm all for cooperation and community, but this time I
> have to ask what's in it for Firebird?

That is a very valid question. Part of the reason for putting forward
the question is to get community input on "what's in it for us?"

> We do the innovation, they grab our code, and use their reputation
> to snatch any lucrative support contracts.

Isn't that exactly what would happen if relations were cool (or below
freezing)? Isn't that what happened in the last 5 years?

Benefits could be:
- Receiving some code & copyrights, like Martijn suggested
- Funding for the Foundation; something like a $1 mln annual
contribution could be a good deal for both sides
- Sales power. A Sybase-like company has 2 sales people matched with
1 support and 1 developer. I think DevCo might have 35 people in the
Interbase team, 15 of which would do sales to big accounts. How would
that hurt the community?
- Marketing power. Spending a few 10K on banner ads, on
paid 'journalistic' write-ups, etc. is affordable for DevCo

For good order sake, we should not underestimate the bargaining power
that we bring to the table. I think that the investors behind DevCo
realize all too well that the plans will only succeed if DevCo can
have a good relationship with the community which works for both
sides. We have demonstrated that we can survive and thrive without
DevCo. If they mess up community relations again, IB will die quite
quickly and the investors won't like that one little bit.