Return-Path: Message-Id: Date: Sat, 13 Apr 91 06:41 EDT From: lojbab (Bob LeChevalier) To: lojban-list Subject: Parser and pricing policy and other software issues Status: RO X-From-Space-Date: Sat Apr 13 06:42:11 1991 X-From-Space-Address: lojbab John Cowan has reported substantial progress on his Lojban parser, which may be in Beta test by the end of the month. Written in C, it is likely to be available for PC, UNIX, and MacIntosh, perhaps by summer (the primary qualification for Beta testers is that you have made some significant efforts at writing Lojban without the parser - we want people who have learned enough of the language to really hammer on the parser for the next couple of months, since bugs in the parser and the grammar are going to be in obscure corners of the language). I am seeking input on an important question now, though: how much do we charge for the parser. Recognizing that software is one of the few areas we can make a little profit to support our activities that don't generate enough self-supporting revenue (i.e. most of them), we want to get a good income. But we don't want to price the program so high that people are reluctant to buy it - the parser is a fantastic tool when you are learning the language, since you can see right away whether a sentence or paragraph is grammatical and what is wrong with it if it isn't. I also understand that the plethora of U**X machines sometimes requires source recompilation, so we need to set a price for source independent of the run-time version. From what I've seen in various price lists, source tends to rate a premium price, and U**X versions of software tend to be twice the price of MS-DOS versions. There is also the question of eventual distribution in the manner of the Free Software Foundation, though our finances may not allow this at this point. Whether you will buy the program or not, your opinions on these questions are important, and will affect the decisions that we'll probably make at LogFest in June. Note that we are not especially concerned with keeping the parser source secret, but at this stage we want to keep version control pretty tight until the final grammar baseline. We intend to give a discount to people with positive voluntary balances with LLG, but the amount is undecided. Give the full price you are willing to pay in the following answers. So here are the questions. We don't want formal orders, and no commitments are implied in responding. 1. Will you be interested in buying the parser as soon as it is available, will you wait for the textbook before buying it, or are you unlikely to buy it even then? 2. Which of the following would you be interested in, and how much would you pay for them (a range or maximum price is fine in response)? a. MS-DOS 8086 run-time source b. MS-DOS 80286-optimized run-time source c. MS-DOS 80386-optimized run-time source d. U**X (specify version) run-time source 3. For U**X, apparently some vendors distinguish in price or availability between human-readable-source, and encoded-but-compilable- source which isn't very readable but is only intended to make the program portable to systems other than the vendor's standard version. If you specified U**X source in #2, indicate interest and price for either or both versions. Note that because of version control, we may be slower to releasing an open- source version. 4. Nora expects to complete the revision of our LogFlash flash card management software by LogFest. The new version is compatible with a revised gismu list with much more completely defined place structures (100 characters vs. 40) that should also be done later this year. Lots of bells and whistles have been added to support people who have found our tuned algorithm not suited to their learning style (e.g. if you skip several days due to illness or other distraction, you tend to miss a lot of words. The new version allows you to set a maximum word count on lessons or to skip adding new words to the word ladder. It also allows you to choose to allow yourself a second try on errors in case you made a typo, change the number of times you have to practice error words, and display or print words for review outside of the lesson. Again, are you interested in this software (MS DOS only for the near future), and how much are you willing to pay for it? Also indicate whether you are upgrading from an old (registered or not) version. This existing, much simpler, version has been priced at $30 for combined LogFlash 1 and LogFlash 2, which teaches the rafsi. Program size and recoding effort, and low interest in the rafsi version will mean that it will be left out of the new package for now. A LogFlash version teaching cmavo should be available soon after the gismu program, but may be sold separately. Would you prefer a bundled product at a lower price than buying the two separately, but higher than the individual program price? (Note: the existing LogFlash program will probably continue to be available via Shareware, but at least for the short term, the enhanced version will be available on purchase from us only) 5. For MS-DOS users, we are working on translating the original adventure game 'Collosal Cave' into Lojban, such that it will have Lojban commands and text (and Lojban-correct magic words), as well as slightly more powerful syntax processing to support grammatical Lojban commands. It is intended to be a bit more fun way to learn the language, though there is a lot of text to translate. The version we are working on is in Turbo-Pascal, but there are C versions of the program for the U**X environment that can be similarly modified once we have the Lojban command structure defined. Are you interested in this product when it is available (probably this summer, but it depends on the text translation effort)? Provide machine and price ranges for this product per the above - in this case, the MS-DOS version will presumably be available much sooner than any other version. Thanx for your input on these questions. You can provide your answers on prices and machines to me directly or on lojban-list. I encourage any open debate on this software, our pricing policy, etc. on the list. We exist to serve the community and this is one of the few ways we can find out how. ---- lojbab = Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc. 2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA 703-385-0273 lojbab@snark.thyrsus.com