Request for Comment - OT

[Craig White]

On Sat, 2006-02-11 at 00:00 +0000, Tony Dietrich wrote:
> I have been asked to start a feasibility study into the provision of a 
> particular service.  I am donating my time free of charge.
> 
> A very short document outlining the background and the requirements of this 
> service can be found at
> 
> http://www.transcc.co.uk/RFCSecureConferenceService.html
> 
> I would be grateful if members of this list could take a look at this document 
> and offer their suggestions/comments.  This mailing list is not the forum for 
> this subject, so I'd encourage anyone that is able or wiling to comment on 
> this RFC to post to the address in the above-mentioned document.
> 
> 
> I would like to stress that this project is not commercial and is never 
> intended to make a profit.  It may however turn out that we cannot keep the 
> project open source, because of its very nature.  It may also be the case 
> that in order to convince the various intended end-users of the security of 
> the project, that the final provider of the service might be a commercial 
> organisation, and that end-users may be asked to pay a contribution towards 
> the upkeep of the service.
> It is perhaps a sad comment on today's world that there are some people out 
> there that believe that a commercial company is somehow inherently more 
> trustworthy than a non-profit-making organisation!
----
Windows thinking is to invent the wheel with each program.

Linux thinking is to recycle what's available.

There are lots of various chat type programs available for Apache or
Tomcat servers that could require SSL encryption and for all purposes
capable of providing an encrypted, multi-user conference - some probably
with file exchange too...I'm not gonna bother researching it.

Lot's of open source projects obtain sponsorship by various businesses
and governmental agencies.

As to your notion that there may be benefit to being a 'for profit'
company as opposed to a 'not for profit' company in terms of pubic
trust...that's probably the nature of things like 'the devil you know
versus the devil you don't know' and many times, a small 'not for
profit' agency can get credibility by associating with well known
non-profit agencies but you have to remember that people tend to trust
the names they see in the papers, magazines, on television even though
in many cases, we really know little about them. 'For profit' companies
have the money to spend to promote their image.

Craig