There's one point from the HN thread (and echoed a few other places) that I'd like to add some thoughts on.
For all those who're getting worried by this, I don't think there's any inherent problem. After all, this is exactly what Red Hat has been doing with Linux for years. One important difference between Red Hat and Julia Computing is that Linus Torvalds does not work for Red Hat. In fact, although many core contributors to Linux have worked for various distributions, Linus himself has gone to great lengths never to work for a single distribution so that he could always remain in a position of perceived neutrality. This led to some growing pains for some time when he had a day job at Transmeta, but since 2003 he has worked full-time on Linux for OSDL (now the Linux Foundation), a 501c6 nonprofit organization. My ideal would be to see something similar for Julia -- a nonprofit home that employs the core decision makers in Julia land. Of course this is a long-term solution, and what is needed right now is a solution for the short to medium term. And to be honest, I think when the time comes to have a more neutral organization, your customers are likely to push you in that direction anyway... Short of that, it might be worth studying some other models that exist now. LLVM/Apple is one that comes to mind, though that is part of a much larger company with a different kind of revenue source than Julia Computing will have. I don't know much about how (or how successfully) Apple has managed to keep LLVM a true community project while employing the project's leader, but it is perhaps an example to consider (and one that is especially relevant to Julia). Basically, I would love if you would keep in mind the ideal of having at least one of you work for a neutral organization in the future. Anything you can arrange for now that will allow such a transition to be done easily when the time comes is, I would think, a good idea. I am incredibly confident in the future of Julia and wish you all the best! Jim
