The IBPhoenix group is unveiling our web site today
at www.ibphoenix.com. For now, the site is a static
collection of articles, frequently asked questions,
and links to all the known resources for InterBase (r),
but many of the articles have never been published
elsewhere. IBPhoenix is the source for documentation
of the design intentions of InterBase(r) as well as
conversion information, usage guides, and community
news.

What is the IBPhoenix group? Well, for one, there's
me. I'm Ann Harrison and I've been involved with
InterBase(r) from its inception fifteen years ago. For
another, there's Paul Beach, whom many of you know
as the last general manager of the InterBase(r) unit
at Inprise(r). His history with the product may not be
as long as mine, but his involvement has been intense.
In addition, Helen Borrie and Pavel Císaø have been
instrumental in getting the IBPhoenix site up and
running.

Why have we formed IBPhoenix? Because we believe that
the InterBase(r) community wants and needs reliable support -
both for usage and for design issues. Thousands of
companies around the world depend on InterBase. They
need services and IBPhoenix is here to supply those
services.

What is the relationship between IBPhoenix and
Inprise(r)? None. Inprise released the InterBase (r)
sources on July 25th. IBPhoenix is working with the
community to improve and extend that code base. We
are not affiliated with Inprise(r) in any way.

Is this a fork in the code? The InterBase(r) code
is currently available from Source Forge as InterBase(r)
and as Firebird. We believe that a single source
tree is best for the InterBase(r) community and will
work to reunite the two trees. At the same time we
consider Firebird to be the real open source project -
one where developers cooperate and learn from each
other. In short, I'm off being didactic on the Firebird
lists.

I hope the IBPhoenix site will be useful to you and
that you will visit it often. New information is
appearing regularly - daily - as we mine the decades
of experience we and the community bring to InterBase(r).

Best regards,

Ann

Inprise(r) and InterBase(r) are registered trademarks
of Inprise Corporation.