CompuServe Messages

Hmmm… thoughts stir… Well, I woulkd say the decision would be based on WHAT it was that was being given away. I doubt that proprietary algorithms/drivers/libraries would, or even should, be given free rein. However, the clever hacks that won't make it commercially are a different matter altogether. If someone is fool enough to hand out source on something that took five thousand manhours and mucho dinero to write, than all I can say is, "Thanks! <sucker!>". Especially if the code was meant for a commercial product, and would seriously damage the competiveness of the company. However, those 'serious' programmers that release source are, IMHO, the salt of the earth. They are the educators to us tyros and probably have done more to advance knowlege of the machine than any number of RKMs. I know I have spent many hours going through code released into the PD/shareware world and gained both a healthy respect for those that wrote it, and more raw information than hours of poring over documentation in the RKMs. No one forced them to do it, but every time I sit and write something and use some little tidbit I've culled from that source, I say a silent prayer of thanks to the Author of the original. The Amiga community gains much from their efforts, and would be a dull place if the practice were to end.