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by James Robertson.
Original Post: There's nothing like source access
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We had a show-stopper bug in the .NET 1.1 framework, which would pretty much grind NewsGator to a halt on certain (fairly rare) configurations. This problem was costing us dearly, in a measurable way. Working with PSS, they issued a hotfix for the problem, which solved it nicely.
We then worked with Microsoft to get a limited redistribution license. The bottom line? We can distribute the fix to our customers who need it. It took a little paperwork, but it made sense for everyone.
Now, contrast that with a system where you get all the sources, and have the ability to modify them. VisualWorks isn't "Open Source" in the OSDL sense, but it's Open Source in the access sense - you have access to all the sources, and can modify them as you see fit. I've had similar show stopper bugs in VW (admittedly, as the Product Manager my access to the engineers is a little better :) ). I started building BottomFeeder in VisualWorks 7.0, and there were a number of issues back then - in some of the widgets and in the Http access libraries. I've been able to extend and enhance the libraries when I needed to, and shipped Bf with those fixes in. Sure, I updated the relevant engineers on what I was doing, and sent along my code as an example of how I was solving the problems. The nice thing is, none of this was dependent on my status as Product Manager. We have customers who create fixes and send us their code all the time. It's not always the case that their fix is what engineering considers to be the ultimate answer, but it gets the job done without their having to wait on our schedule.
That's the crucial piece - it's not always the case that you can afford to wait for the vendor to issue a fix - but if you pick the mainstream solutions, that's the hole you dig yourself into.