> I am worried about relying on developers who can abandon a project
> anytime they want, with no legal recourse for those who are left
> high and dry.

I take it that your worry is at a higher level because FireBird is open
source/volunteer. There are lots of examples of commercial software that
have been abandoned: Clipper and Visual Objects (Computer Associates);
Turbo Basic (Borland) ; VMS (DEC). And there are examples of Open Source
software that have persisted for a decade or longer: the GNU C compiler,
Emacs, FreeBSD. So, while your concern is (in my opinion) a valid one, it
is true whether you go with Borland's offering or IBPhoenix.

Just my two cents ...

Art Metz
AMetz@...

-----Original Message-----
From: Joseph Carney [mailto:jcarney@...]
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 10:56 AM
To: IBObjects@egroups.com
Subject: [IBO] IBO using IB 6.1 or Firebird.


I've been monitering the mers interbase list and have noticed questions
about which version
of Interbase to use when upgrading. There seem to be valid points on both
sides of the issue
(IB 6.x vs Firebird 0.9).
From an IBO perspective, does anyone here have a reasonable opinion about
this. Since I am making
the recomendation to my company for future versions of our product, it's
very important I get
all the info I can.
What I am mainly concerned with is... Which would be a better platform for
IBO, both short term and long term.

At this point, because of Borlands' past behavior, I am leaning toward
firebird, since there seems to be more real commitment behind it. Saying
that, I am worried about relying on developers who can abandon a project
anytime they want, with no legal recourse for those who are left high and
dry. (not accusing anyone, just expressing my fears.)

Thanks in advance
Joe Carney
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
jcarney@...