Directory Server Inbreeding Filth

The Fedora Project have just released version 1.0 of Fedora Directory Server. It is interesting that this announcement comes at a similar time as Sun announcing the open sourcing of Sun Java System Directory Server.

If you take a look at the screenshots, you will realize that these products – iPlanet Directory, Netscape Directory Server, Sun ONE Directory, Fedora Directory and Sun Java Directory Server – are all almost the exact same thing!! Who are we trying to kid here? Inbreeders! The history explains it in a succint manner.

This is a typical example of the (really bad) forking that takes place when it comes to proprietary software. If you think forking and branching of code bases only happens in Open Source Software, you’re horribly wrong.

Basically all this means is that millions of dollars have been spent competing on development of the same code base in order to put the same or similar features into the competing products. At the end of the day Open Source Software became the winner, but at what cost to the corporate entities involved? If only someone realised this, we would not have a fragmented product, but one robust product that everyone has equal control over the development of.

Novell and Microsoft must have been laughing all the way to the bank.

Sun the Software Rock Star

Sun Microsystems Logo

So how aligned am I with the company I work for?

Here’s a comment from Jonathan Schwartz about the release of most of the Sun enterprise software stack for free (sans support and warranty):

From a fading star, Schwartz said, Sun will become the software industry’s “rock star.”

Welcome to my point of view, Jonathan.

Just one question: If Sun is the “Rock Star”, won’t they need more “Rock Star Hackers”, not fewer?

The Television Interactive Snowboarding Simulator

TV snowboard SIM picture
Living in the land of hot summers and mediocre winters, we don’t get to play much in the arena of winter sports, which makes this snowboard simulator just that much more desirable.