Kickstarter 2013 Revisited

[Mark Waddingham]

> 1. Will all user interface objects be widgets?

Yes - eventually. The current 'classic' controls will remain for 
backwards-compatibility purposes, but we will be augmenting them with 
more focused, specific widgets. For example, 'buttons' are currently 
push buttons, radio buttons, check boxes, menus and used for various 
other purposes with the primary goal of making them easier to use.

> 2. Will LiveCode only provide a limited set of UI widgets?

That depends on how you define 'limited'.

We will provide more modern replacements for all the purposes of the 
current control set as widgets, as well as extending this set to bring 
it into line with the range that are now expected to be provided; and, 
if only because of the needs of the IDE, a great many other more 
specific ones.

> 3. Will the community/Other developers provide the remainder?

We want to build an ecosystem where the community (whether they be 
open-source or commercial) can build (or augment) the components they 
need and then share the result in an easy, maintainable fashion.

> 4. Will widgets be provided by others at a Cost($£$£$£)?

That will be up to the widget developer.

> 5. Will the widget system be licensable to allow a purchase system?

We are building a widget marketplace. You will be able to develop a 
widget and then 'sell' it (for no cost, if you want) through an online 
store integrated into the product.

> 6. Will all widgets free/£$£$£$ be available to LC Community Edition?

That will depend on the license model chosen by the widget developer.

LiveCode Community will only be able to use appropriately licensed 
widgets as to do otherwise would contravene the license of the community 
edition.

> I have asked similar questions before but never had an answer. This
> raises the conspiracy theorist in me. It would be a little
> disconcerting if you contributed (£$£$£$) to making livecode open
> source only to be locked out of the widget system and for LC to only
> provide a limited set of UI Objects.

Let's be clear here - LiveCode is now Open Source - anyone is free to 
fork, modify and distribute the engine and IDE as long as they abide by 
the terms of the GPL. That happened about a month after the KickStarter 
compaign ended (that wasn't just us taking a break by the way, it took a 
great deal of work to transition from a technical point of view!).

Whilst we, as a company, can help influence the open-source side of the 
towards producing widgets for everyone (not least by providing the tools 
to do so, and making sure they are easy to use) we cannot assert direct 
control - at the end of the day, it will be an individual's decision as 
to whether they want to use commercial, open-source or dual-licensing.

I should point out that all the KickStarter goals which will be 
delivered as widgets will do so dual-licensed under both a commercial 
and GPLv3 license, if that was your actual concern.

-- 
Mark Waddingham ~ mark at livecode.com ~ http://www.livecode.com/
LiveCode: Everyone can create apps