As promised, here’s some more detail about the acquisition of Mori and Clockwork by Alfonso Guerra of Apokalypse Software. I sent Alfonso a bunch of questions by email, and these are his replies.

What new features are you planning?

The main emphasis on the next feature release for Mori (tentatively,
v1.7) is simplifying the workflow and polishing some UI items. So some
menus will be moved about, keyboard navigation will be more fluid, more
transparency between entry types, and the like.

In addition, it will have better outlining functionality, including
inline notes and item numbering in the source view.

The two big features Mori users have been requesting are continuous text
display and LinkBack support. They will be included.

Do you have a release schedule planned out?

There are more features planned for a 1.8 and possibly 1.9 release in
the coming months, and a 2.0 release by year’s end. I’m going to try to
hold off a big upgrade if at all possible until then. But if some of the
upcoming features requires a format change, I might have to do it earlier.

Mori was famous for being developed along with the wishes of its users. Do you intend to continue that?

Absolutely. The Hog Bay Fora for Mori and Clockwork have been migrated to the Apokalypse site, and the request and bug tracking database are now
part of my workflow.

What was the deal between you and Jesse?

Well, without mentioning specific numbers, I’m not sure what you’re
asking. He wanted to pass development on to someone else and when I saw
the capabilities of Mori and Clockwork I knew they would be vital
components in Apokalypse’s portfolio. They were very much in-line with
my dream software environment.

Will he have any further involvement in development?

Interestingly, in helping finish up the migration and to test the store
module, Jesse was the first Mori customer for Apokalypse! So, yes, he
now has a significant say in its future direction.

In addition, because the Blocks architecture has its counterpart in my
dream environment, I’ll be working with Jesse to see that Mori and
Clockwork can continue to function with his implementation of Blocks and
the direction he’s taking it.

What’s your background in software? It looks like these are your first Mac products, is that true?

The first for Apokalypse Software Corp. I had an earlier company, Al
Guerra Enterprises, which put out an MkLinux distribution for the Mac.
Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out.

However, I started developing Mac software since 1987, when I worked for
Deneba Software on several products, including Canvas. I later worked
for Daystar Digital and also the mothership itself, but sadly that
wasn’t developing for the Mac platform (it was QuickTime for OS/2).

I’ve also developed software for IBM and HP’s Verifone division.

I have a couple Mac applications currently under development, but I’ve
primarily done systems level development. I have one special system tool
I was polishing up to launch. However, because this opportunity
presented itself I was eager to take it.