From: rasure@snidley.eece.unm.edu (John Rasure)
Newsgroups: comp.soft-sys.khoros
Subject: Khoros as an Open System (please read and discuss)
Date: 5 Apr 92 23:22:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: pprg.37278


                     KHOROS AS AN OPEN SYSTEM

The purpose of this message is to inform the Khoros user community 
of the Khoros Group's intentions with respect to providing
user support and what is required to continue to make Khoros a
freely available open system.

What Prompted This Note to the User Community?

     Patch 5 is the last official patch to Khoros 1.0.   We have
begun Khoros 2.0 and hope to make it available in about a year.
However, the timeliness and method of distribution of Khoros 2.0
depend on the support provided from the Khoros User Community.
With this message we hope to establish what the mutual 
responsibilities are for the Khoros Group and for the User Community.

The Philosophy of Distributing Khoros as Freely Available Software.

Khoros is a freely available and open software system because
this provides the Khoros Group with the best working environment
in which to further the research and development of the software.

The current method of distribution helps to maximize the collaboration 
between the users and the developers.  This enhances the
creative process of software development, closely couples the
software to the users' needs, and facilitates innovative solutions 
to current problems.  This philosophy is largely responsible 
for the broad acceptance of Khoros, and for the quality and
portability of Khoros.  While the open distribution helps to
maintain the creative spirit of the developers and the user community, 
this does not, unfortunately, help to pay the salaries of
the Khoros group or promote the growth of the project.

The cost of creating Khoros within the University of New Mexico
has is covered by external contracts, research grants, and Consortium 
redistribution fees;  however, the amount of funding
available is simply not sufficient to provide continued user support 
at the level that has been established since the release of Khoros 1.0.

How Can You Support the Research and Development of Khoros?

If you are benefitting from using Khoros (individual, working
group, company, university), you can support the Khoros project
in a number of ways.

Community           Contributions are made by completing ports,
                    by donating software, and by answering questions 
		    posted to the mailing list or the
                    comp.soft-sys.khoros newsgroup.  We greatly
                    appreciate the participation of individuals
                    in the user community.

Consortium          Redistribution licenses of Khoros are available 
		    by joining the Khoros Consortium as a
                    Supporting Member ($50K or $5K Universities)
                    or as an Affiliate Member ($5K).  The benefits 
		    of membership include royalty-free
                    redistribution and participation in the
                    specification and implementation of Khoros.

Donations           Tax deductible donations of any amount can be
                    made to the UNM Foundation in care of the
                    Khoros Project.

For more information, please e-mail consort@chama.eece.unm.edu.


                What Does all of This Mean?
                ===========================

The Khoros Group intends to continue the open distribution of
Khoros and provide limited e-mail support.  The extent to which
we succeed depends on the efforts of both the User Community and
the Khoros Group.

We invite an open discussion of these issues.  

John Rasure, Project Director