Microsoft's file-share rule makes waves. The software giant's stipulation on a file-sharing protocol has evoked new anger from open-source developers and may also have antitrust implications. [CNET News.com]

If you're not familiar with the sordid history of Microsoft's involvement in the alleged standardization of their SMB as the Common Internet File System (CIFS), this article is a good introduction.

What took me by surprise in this article was the quote by IP lawyer Claude Stern: "You shouldn't be able to sue somebody for patent infringement when you were trying to make what is the subject of the patent a standard."

Am I reading that right?  Is he arguing for a compulsory free license covering any patent-encumbered technology you bring to a standards group?  I wish more IP lawyers felt that way.  We could have side-stepped that whole RAND discussion at the W3C.

6:22:00 PM   

How to scale b2c Web Services?  Sounds like Akamai and IBM have one potential solution.  The Register: Akamai confirms IBM as Java partner (by Computerwire).

From the article: "WebSphere, IBM's J2EE-based application server, will run on the same boxes as Akamai's own caching and routing software."

Generally speaking, pushing executable content (servlets, JSPs) out to the edge of the network sounds promising.  (It'll only work well for stuff that's not tightly bound to a backend, such as a database or legacy system.)

And exposing those chunks of code behind a Web Services-enabled API seems obvious.  It'll be interesting to see how well it works.

2:34:12 PM   

IBM wooing smaller businesses to Linux. At its DeveloperWorks Live conference, the computing giant unveils a Linux software bundle as part of its effort to court small and midsized businesses. [CNET News.com]

I was wondering how long it would be before IBM published its own Linux distro.  This is not exactly that, but it serves much the same purpose.

First impression: If I were charged with finding a vendor for Intel-based servers, I would look very closely at this new offering from IBM.  Being able to buy WebSphere, DB2, and IBM middleware products (like message queuing) pre-installed on a supported Linux box is very attractive.

2:16:55 PM   

Five Worlds from Joel On Software:

You're a software developer. Me too. But we may not have the same goals and requirements. In fact there are several different worlds of software development, and different rules apply to different worlds.

I think there are five worlds here, sometimes intersecting, often not. The five are:

1. Shrinkwrap
2. Internal
3. Embedded
4. Games
5. Throwaway

Listen very closely to me now.  If you are a software developer, author of books or magazine articles on software development, or like to make comments in public forums (I refuse to say "fora") about software development, read this article.

What works for you may not work for me.  The art and practice of software development varies widely.  Do not shove your solution, technology, or process down my throat.

Thank you.

1:10:27 AM   

Berners-Lee underlines importance of royalty-free standards. In his opening keynote at WWW2002 in Hawaii, Tim Berners-Lee stressed how vital it was that Web specifications remain unburdened by royalties. [xmlhack]

From the O'ReillyNet article (by Ed Dumbill): "In closing, Berners-Lee encouraged the delegates to get involved in the patent and licensing debate. He mentioned the effect that the large amount of public feedback on the W3C RAND debate had had, which included a change in W3C patent policy and the invitation to the table of representatives from the open source world. He encouraged continued involvement and contribution to the debate, stressing that thoughtful contribution to the ongoing debate was important."

I find it personally gratifying to hear him say that.  I actually sent an email to the W3C when the RAND brouhaha blew up.  It felt good to participate in an open process where I thought I actually stood a chance of being heard.

Anybody else think it's ironic that a technical standards body is more democratic, open, and accountable than the American government?

12:48:01 AM