> BTW. Is the CUMP project still alive?

CUMP is dead.  However, there were lots of good ideas generated
in the discussions about it.  For anyone considering a new open
programmer project, reviewing the CUMP mailing list archives is a
good place to start, both for technical inspiration as well as
for analyzing why the project "dried up" and how to avoid
repeating its fate.

Some have blamed it on group members unwillingness to "put their
money where their mouths are", so to speak.  In otherwords, lots
of talk, some of it even worthwhile, but no one willing to commit
their time and resources to fleshing out an actual design.  There
is likely some truth in this, as most of us can afford only
limited time for something that doesn't pay the bills.  But I
think there were other, more significant, factors.

I can't speak for others who were involved in it, but my personal
reasons for losing interest in the project came from an inability
of the group to reach a consensus on two key issues.

The first issue, and most important to me, is that there was no
agreement about how the design should be licensed.  A variety of
views were discussed, but there seemed to be no progress towards
resolving these differences.  Continuing to contribute ideas
without a clearly defined and documented license was just not
acceptable to me.  And I absolutely wasn't going to contribute
substantial man-hours without a license to protect the resulting
designs.

The second issue was disagreement over whether the project should
produce a simple, inexpensive, beginner level design, or a much
more ambitious design suitable for professional development or
even production use.

I think that if anyone wants to make another attempt at a CUMP-
like project, these two issues will have to be defined right at
the start in order to keep the group from fragmenting.

No matter what license, or how simple/complex the design goal,
some will not agree with the decision.  And that's fine.  Better
to make the split right at the beginning than to have a group
that can't agree on anything.  Any who think it should be done a
different way should consider organizing an independent project.
Choice is a good thing.  I may not want to contribute to a
project with a BSD style license, or a simple "free for non
commercial use" license, but that doesn't mean that such projects
aren't worthwhile.  To the contrary, I admire such efforts.  It
just isn't what I personally want to do.


---
                                        Peace,
                                        William Kitchen

The future is ours to create.

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