PythonLabs Team Moves to Digital Creations

[Tim Peters]

[Guido]
> Unfortunately, BeOpen.com's original plans for PythonLabs didn't work
> out as hoped, and we weren't able to reach mutual agreement on
> workable alternative plans -- despite trying for months.

[Dan Kuchler]
> Can you elaborate on what the 'original plans' wer for PythonLabs
> at BeOpen, or what some of the alternatives were?

Most of the original plans were announced at the time.  Anything that wasn't
announced (either then or later) is BeOpen.com's confidential business info,
so simply can't be discussed openly -- not by us, anyway.

The fundamental dilemma should have been clear all along:  funding core work
on free software is a delicate business, and especially at the start.
PythonLabs was not originally conceived as a short-term major profit center,
but giving away software is not enough on its own to pay major bills.
Pondering how far, and in which ways, to compromise, involves many hard
questions.  Those aren't restricted to Python in isolation -- they have to
be answered in the context of the whole company.  So we can't discuss the
specifics of our tradeoffs without discussing BeOpen.com's whole business,
and, again, we simply can't do that.

Of course, the compromises we need to consider at Digital Creations will
also be shaped by DC's business as a whole (we asked, but it appears nobody
wants to throw unlimited funds at us for nothing in return <wink>).  The
great news is that DC already has a solid core business in which Python
plays a key role, and we're confident that DC's plans for funding core
Python work are hard-headedly realistic from the start, with compromises
we're comfortable making.  No guarantee that reality will agree, but I think
this has a *superb* shot at flying in the real world.

> ...
> Congratulations guys, best of luck at your new company/jobs.

Thanks!  And if I start to turn c.l.py into a runing Zope advertisement, hit
me <0.9 wink>.

not-speaking-for-beopen.com-or-dc-ly y'rs  - tim