copyright infringement question

Jerry Daniels jerry at daniels-mara.com
Wed Apr 16 12:27:14 EDT 2008


Kay,

All script editors have more things in common than not. That said,  
GLX2 script editor differs from Rev script editor in several,  
fundamental ways.

GLX2 has...
- One window and up to 20 tabs for browsing scripts of different objects
- Handler links within scripts so you can jump to a handler nearly  
anywhere
- Clairvoyance where GLX2 tries to guess the name of the hander/token/ 
variable/constant you're typing.
- Breadcrumbs that provide a trail of handler names you've been  
working on
- It's own script colors with two motifs: alabaster and chalkboard

My earlier attempts at solving the problem of scripting and editing  
properties (Constellation/Galaxy) were MUCH more cutting edge,  
innovative, comprehensive and less derivative of Rev IDE than GLX2.  
And I iterated Constellation/Galaxy considerably trying to "please" my  
users and give them what they wanted and needed. Galaxy and  
Constellation were pretty unsuccessful, too. They even angered some  
people. I ended up with cult software. And a small cult.

So why did I un-innovate GLX2? It should be plain by now. The large  
body of Rev users didn't want drastic change, but rather a few  
innovations and lots of optimization where possible. Why? I have many  
theories, but the wallet votes were what I started to count.

But in talking about innovation, I should mention my strong belief  
that a product is not just a snapshot of a UI or the code beneath it.  
A good app is more like a river than a lake. A river flows and  
changes. Since GLX2 came out nearly a year and a half ago, we've  
published over 300 versions via our auto updater--fixing bugs, adding  
small enhancements. that's an average of 20 a month. We have a beta  
track for the adventurous. We now have a social-style web site to  
support it with precise user control over email and RSS notifications.  
You get the idea. Innovation is not only skin deep.

Given all that, I'm pretty certain that I could sell more GLX2 if it  
was less innovative and more optimizing in nature. I wouldn't be using  
it myself, if that were the case. GLX2 is as little innovation as I  
can stand (in a product that i use) at the moment and it's enough like  
other Rev IDE components that Kevin Miller is happy to use it. NOTE:  
Kevin's pretty conservative Rev user.

Legal action from Runtime Revolution against Daniels & Mara for GLX2?  
They'd have to sue themselves, then. They're selling it! I have always  
collaborated with the team in Scotland on the above mentioned products  
and some others that are about to be released at the RevLive  
conference in Las Vegas new month. They're great partners.

Why "should" people buy GLX2? They shouldn't, but they CAN. It's a  
choice. Choice is good. Diversity is good. Not everyone has to use the  
same tools, speak the same language, walk the same way, etc. Diversity  
is the cornerstone of evolution. There's still plenty of differences  
in GLX2 vs. Rev script editor to make it a choice.

I have jumped into this conversation in the middle and may have  
misunderstood the intent and nature of the whole thing, but I used it  
as an opportunity to flog my product and company, regardless. Thanks  
for the opportunity.

Best,

Jerry Daniels

Daniels & Mara, Inc.
Makers of GLX2
http://www.daniels-mara.com/glx2 - product site
http://glx2help.ning.com - support site


On Apr 16, 2008, at 3:35 AM, Kay C Lan wrote:

> I would think GLX2 is a perfect example. Gee it has a script field  
> just like
> Rev's; has Run, Trace and Step just like Rev's; script colourization  
> and a
> Handler menu just like Rev's; and blimey, Rev's is FREE and you want  
> me to
> pay money for GLX2. Yet there is clearly a large number of people on  
> this
> list who vote with their wallet. I may be wrong, and Jerry will  
> probably
> correct me, but I imagine it is an intimate knowledge of all that is  
> wrong
> with the Rev script editor; plus an excellent knowledge/focus on  
> efficiency,
> that makes GLX2 such a compelling product. So has Rev taken legal  
> action
> against Jerry?




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