Moving the MC IDE forward

[Richard Gaskin]

Geoff Canyon wrote:

> In short, (putting it bluntly) why would anyone want to spend effort
> maintaining/updating MetaCard's development environment when the
> Revolution environment is also customizable?

Very different levels of customizability.  For example the Rev license
expressly forbids modification of the Distribution Builder, but modifying
MC's has let me make a simple automated system that works exactly as I want
it to.  When it comes to customizability, nothing is more open than Open
Source. 

So maybe a better question might be to ask "Why not?"

There is a perception among many here that the MC IDE is useful.  Let it be.

It costs RunRev nothing to have three (Rev, MC, FreeGUI) or a million IDEs;
they all require a licence key to get past the script limits.  As Scott used
to say, "Let a thousand flowers bloom."

There are many benefits to the multi-IDE world we find ourselves in, for
everyone involved:

- Just as Linux has multiple window managers, the MC engine is powerful
enough to drive an unlimited number of IDEs.  Let people choose the one they
feel most comfortable with.

- Since RunRev only provides support for their own IDE, they stand to save
money on support costs to the degree that folks use non-Rev-supported IDEs.

- Open IDEs allow a level of design experimentation that benefits the entire
community, but benefits Rev most of all.  The alternative for Rev would be
extensive user testing on multiple prototypes, which would be costly and
likely yield less useful data than field-tested implementations.  All IDEs
have the opportunity to learn from one another, and as the owner of the
technology Rev is the only one that can borrow from the others; they get
free R&D. ;)

So putting it just as bluntly, that there is a perception of MC's value is
reason enough.  If that perception changes over time the MC engine will
whither away naturally.  There should be no need to force change, and doing
so would not have the liberating feeling of a choice.

The current plan as announced seems to wisely take these factors into
account, taking nothing from anyone and only adding new opportunities for
all.

-- 
 Richard Gaskin 
 Fourth World Media Corporation
 Developer of WebMerge 2.2: Publish any database on any site
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