Database Connectivity

[Cameron Laird]

In article <1gljewt.t3m4wtirod26N%aleaxit at yahoo.com>,
Alex Martelli <aleaxit at yahoo.com> wrote:
			.
		[Alex correctly 
		recommends Mac OS X
		and Linux]
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			.
>Yes, this IS a crucial issue.  If an open-source project is "abandoned",
>your own projects based on it are _not_ dead or forced to migrate: you
>have the option of continuing to use the existing project, taking it up
>to develop it further, or at an intermediate level doing some minimal
>maintenance on it, etc.  If a piece of commercial software is
>*abandoned*, OTOH, your own projects based on it are in deep trouble;
>you _are_ forced to migrate, or try to -- beause you cannot buy the
>software and new licenses for it any more.
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... only more so.  In principle, code escrow addresses some of these
concerns.  Code escrow never works.  Oh, yeah, sometimes it's imple-
mented, and paid for, and activated, but it's always a total loss.
I've lived through code escrow numerous times, and, even when it
appears to work, it's a mess.  Open source is sooooo much safer.  

... except that, on the other side, corporate attorneys are soberly
advising open source should NEVER be used, because of patent concerns.
Interesting times will continue.