SignWriting List Forum| Message 599 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] | Message Index |
|
SignWriting List Forum |
|||
|
|
From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Tue Nov 24, 1998 6:26 pm Subject: Re: Java and other things ... | |
|
>On Mon, 23 Nov 1998, Stuart Thiessen wrote: >Lastly, what will it take to be able to do other tasks in SW such as >databases or spreadsheets? I know that there are no resources to >do that right now, but I am wondering if the way that the >programmer is doing the SW program, if others could use his >libraries or images or whatever to create other programs that are >SW-based. I don't know if this makes sense, but I thought I would >ask. ______________________ This is an excellent question, Stuart, and the answer is yes...just as soon as we have a working version of SignWriter 5.0, we plan to open the sources to other programmers. This is the only way to truly benefit the world. Something new started happening in the software world recently - it is called the "open source movement". Commercial software programs started placing their source code on the internet for other programmers to freely access. Programmers around the world started to compete with each other to see who could create a "better mousetrap" using the source code from the "big-time software developers". Of course, SignWriting is not commercial. You can download our software for free on our web site, and even though we sell the program and other books and videos, the sales do not support anyone. They just help re-print the materials. So "open sources" for SignWriter will not attract the big-time commercial programmers, because they cannot make money from developing software to type SignWriting. However, there are always idealistic people who want to give to the world, so you never know...someone might want to help if they have access to the source code. Therefore, I want you all to know that the old source code for SignWriter 4.3 is available right now to any programmer upon request. It is written in Microsoft Pascal, for MS-DOS. I know no one wants to program with this old source code, but it could be a springboard to creating better and newer programs in other computer languages. Also, we will be officially releasing the source code to SignWriter 5.0 after the program has been tested and used for awhile. Once the source code seems to be clean and well written, we will then release the sources, with hopes that other programmers can apply the sources to other needs, such as the databases or spreadsheets you mention above. And we will continue to develop better features in SignWriter 5.0 simultaneously, so development will continue no matter what. So, if there is a programmer on the list who is interested in helping, please write to me privately and we can talk about it! All the best - Valerie :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valerie Sutton at the DAC Deaf Action Committee for SW SignWriting https://www.SignWriting.org Center For Sutton Movement Writing an educational nonprofit organization Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|