On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 11:25:54 +0100, you wrote:

>I might try again, yes. I think in this case it likely an NDA would =
cover
>parts of the source code.
>
>The real thing that I need are IDL files for the interface =
specifications.
>These would become a part of the source code, directly.
>
>I guess the only possible reason they can have for protecting this IP is=
 to
>help protect the business of selling programmers, both their and third =
party
>ones.

I don't think they are especially worried about programmer sales - =
Microchip are in the business of
selling chips, and would probabaly welcome anything that contributes to =
this. =20
Actually I think there may be another issue here, quality control. If =
they published the interfaces,
any idiot could knock up some flaky hardware that could cause stability =
problems, leading to support
calls etc. and a bad reputation for the system as a whole - by keeping =
tighter control, they can
ensure that any add-on is done properly.=20

As MPLAB is not open source, I can't see any major problem having the bit=
 that interfaces your
product to MPLAB not being open source - I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to =
isolate just the interface
part in a seperate closed-source module.=20

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