Well, let's clarify (since it's not discussed too much in the articles or
here on the list): it's not that you can't distribute a generic CFE but
rather that it can't be done for free, for deployment purposes.
That said, we (New Atlanta) do indeed permit you to distribute a CFML
application bundled with any edition of BlueDragon (and that includes a CFE
application) for commercial deployment use, but you simply must obtain a
redistribution license from us to this.
The amazing thing is, folks, we're not talking about charging you the full
price for BD to do this. If you wanted to somehow bundle a CFML app with CF,
you'd expect to have to pay $1,299, per deployment. If you want to do 100 of
these, for some product that you want to sell for $100, that just won't
work, will it? And in fact, you couldn't do a CFE deployment with the
standard edition of CF. You'd need at least Enterprise, which starts t
$5,999 (and I think there were technical reasons why the CFE guys didn't try
to use that in any case. BD's J2EE deployment is just so simple.)
So what does BD cost? Well the standalone Server JX edition is only $899,
while the J2EE edition (needed for CFE) is $2,499. Still too rich for your
$100 product, right? Because to buy it you'd think you have to also cover
that $2499. Not so!
Here's the thing: if you want to bundle a CFML app with BlueDragon (any
edition, from the standalone Server edition to the J2EE edition or even our
.NET edition), we don't charge you the full price. We figure you're helping
sell BD into places we never would (and we restrict the use of BD in this
arrangement so it's only to be used to run your app, not any other your
customer might want to build).
Instead, the payment is a royalty based on your sales price. The percentage
is surprisingly low (but obviously if you have a $100 product, it means you
won't be paying any more than $100 per license). I'm not kidding! Now you're
product is no longer (your price + price of ColdFusion) but instead (your
price + a percent of your price, for BD).
If the idea interests anyone, please contact Brian O'Reilly,
br...@newatlanta.com. (Part of the concern is a fear that we'd be
overwhelmed with a lot of folks interested in creating only very
small-volume sales. Please be considerate, giving your idea serious thought,
so that you only approach us with serious inquiries.)
The bottom line, though, is that we want to help you succeed and build a
business based on CFML where you might previously have been unable to even
think of it.