Monday, March 25, 2002

The Microsoft antitrust case plot thickens. This time Linux operating-system distributor Red Hat accuses Microsoft of taking ownership of open technology standards in an attempt to frustrate other companies. See article. [hs] 2:01:17 PM

Article in Globe and Mail: Web services interest and use is increasing, but according to Peoplesoft's Richard Bergquist CTO "we're definitely still in the early adopter stage". "The major hurdle for vendors is their [corporate management's] reluctance for business change," Mr. Bergquist said. "But this is technology that will let companies do new things and increase efficiency, so it's a hurdle that will definitely be overcome before very long." He expects the market to finalize standards over the next year, followed by security improvements over the next couple of years and technology maturity and late-adopter acceptance within three to five years. [hs] 1:57:51 PM

Here's a news.com article talking about JavaOne announcements hoping to combat the perception that Microsoft is in the lead with respect to web services. [gtb] 1:41:21 PM

Incredibly, the mainstream business and technical press are under the impression that Microsoft is in the lead in the area of web services.  Here is a BusinessWeek article from the fall that claims that, "Microsoft saw an opportunity to at last become a Net visionary--and executed perfectly".  With all due respect, the folks that write these articles have never actually had to implement the technologies that they are writing about.  Sun's "the network is the computer" vision is an integral part of the products and services they provide.   This is a whole bunch different than Microsoft's recent affectations towards the web in general and web services in particular. Put simply, Sun has pioneered the concept of services-based architecture, web or otherise, and has done more than anyone to make the concept a reality.  The notion that Microsoft, no matter what strengths .NET has, is a pioneer in this field is absolute nonsense.   They may very well catch up, but it is Sun's ball to drop -- and it will take at least another couple of years before Microsoft's products can even hope to be as advanced as the ones that Sun already has. [gtb] 1:36:39 PM

JavaOne this week.  I hope that Sun can begin to articulate its technical lead in web services to the satisfaction of the mainstream press. [gtb] 1:17:51 PM

Kent Beck's Test Driven Design book draft is already having enormous impact.  Ron Crocker takes on Bryan Dollery's interface challenge to the letter of Kent's TDD law. [gtb] 1:11:51 PM

Former General Electric CEO, Jack Welch's address to the Information Week Spring Conference: "Now is the time to widen the gap between you and the turkeys who aren't spending".  "Neutron" Jack, not particularly well known for touchy feely sentiments, emphasizes the strategic importance of having close relationships between the offices of CEO and CIO. [gtb] 1:05:36 PM

It looks like many of the key authors are busy writing their next works.  Martin Fowler has a book on Enterprise Application Architecture in the works.  Judging from the draft, it appears to have a raft of useful Patterns to expose. [gtb] 12:56:07 PM

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