[Zope-DB] Pitfall: mxODBCZopeDA and test runner in 2.9+

[Matthew T. Kromer]

On Oct 13, 2006, at 5:14 AM, Chris Withers wrote:

>
>
> I have to echo Jens' sentiments though: why not just ship .py files  
> and be done with it?
>


If I had to make a wild-ass guess, its because there's an indication  
that the mxodbc code would be misappropriated and proliferated  
outside of the control of the authors, a circumstance which they  
desire to avoid.

The alternative of shipping .pyc files (and still not letting source  
out the door) is to spend lots of time coming up with ways to pack  
source into .pyd files, which would be very clumsy.  None of it  
actually prevents someone who knows the python internals from yanking  
source (or reconstructed source) back out, but it goes a long way to  
prevent those folks from saying "oh, well, all software *should* be  
free -- so I'll just delete this little licensing routine right  
here.... *snip* ta-da, I'm pleased to announce free-mxodbc to the world"

Actually I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to redistribute  
misappropriated code, but there ARE a lot of individuals out there  
whose sense of entitlement exceeds their common sense.  I'm sure e- 
genix would be happy to release the source for a big enough lump sum  
to pay off their expected future licensing revenue, but in the  
interim their business model requires people to pay as they go.  And  
since their charges are about the equivalent of a nice night out at  
an upscale restaurant (or a few passes through McDonalds with a  
minivan full of kids) I can't see anyone investing the time to write  
a replacement.