A few years ago, one of our clients wanted that assurance with one of our previous products (we've both since moved on). What we did was to put the source code into escrow, so that they didn't get to see it unless we went under. The client paid the escrow costs, and we did not charge extra for the software.

Alan

>>Hi,
>>What does open source mean to us, developer?
>>
>>Recently, we have couples of potential customers willing to purchase our software with open source basis. So, we are asking MORE money to open source code to them. However, they seem not very happy.
>
>What you're describing is not "open source." It's selling the source code with the program. Lots of companies want that so that if the vendor disappears, they can still have their software updated. If this is a vertical market product, I agree with your strategy of charging more for source code.
>
>"Open source" refers to a licensing method in which source is required to be made available to those using the software, and anyone can make modifications. Linux, for example, is open source.
>
>Tamar