> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kaputnik [mailto:delphi@...]
> Sent: Martes 16 de Enero de 2001 20:02
>
> I for myself wouldn't like anything more than to merge the Borland and the
> Firebird-source-trees together. It is a shame to have a splitted community
> at all, and Interbase as a database is doing nothing than loosing in this
> constellation. Many potential users are either confused or scared off by
> having two different COMPETING products based on one source.

Well, at this time, there's nothing that stops Borland for taking code
posted in Firebird or Firebird to take code posted in the IB tree, so
there's no great barrier that can produce incompatible products. Sync can be
made in the two directions.
Borland's a commercial entity. Certainly they don't waste money on IB just
for burning dollars. So I guess they are very cautious about changes to the
engine and also, are more worried about full certified kits that can be
sold.
Firebird is a community of people that wanted to get their hands on a real
db engine that has been used in commercial environments for years, despite
the complaints you may have against its limitations and bugs. They run the
TCS suite that was released by Borland to see if the engine passes those
tests after they do changes. One reason Ann is a contributor to Firebird is
that developers needed a person that could answer hard questions about the
code and the architecture in general. Borland has not been much
communicative in this sense, unfortunately.
My utopia is to see Borland working on hard issues (like subtle bugs and
critical enhancements) that require deep knowledge, while Firebird adds new
features and patches other bugs (at the same time developers know better the
code), but relying on technical points of view of people like Charlie Caro,
Ann Harrison, Jim Starkey and the former Borland employees that worked in IB
for years before leaving the company (like Dave Schnepper). However, at the
pace we go, I see the utopia risks to remain a hopeless dream and the actual
"frozen air" menaces to become an endless and established status. It's
difficult to break the "iron curtain" (specially with Mr. Schieck applying
censure to people he disagrees with). After being a Borland customer for 10
years, I still see how they need better communications and this is not the
same than PR releases.
Discussion is okay. Not all discussions can follow full netiquette. Flames
are a fact of life. There have been a lot of giant flame wars in the C++
community over the years and the language and the community are still there
in the forums. Don't get afraid because a ruckus happens. That's natural in
real communities, for good or for bad. The best solution is not always to
hide the dust beneath the rug. If the vapor is not allowed to go, it can
make the boiler exploit. Most important is to find a solution at the end.
After the tempest, the sun appears again.

C.