At 07:50 AM 26-04-01 +1000, Adam Clarke wrote:

>While (as always) Helen has much to offer on this topic, and I respect her
>leadership position in the community please don't under value what Markus
>perspective has to offer.

I hope I didn't. Markus has proposed a very nice graphic and has offered some good arguments. I'm sure I acknowledged that.

>Markus has come in to have a look at Firebird and discovered a tangles mess
>of interwoven websites which reflect the tangled mess of the current divide
>between Firebird, Interbase and the various interest groups that exist in
>between.

True. I think the recent input from "new faces" (Marcus and Jeff) is a valuable indicator that it's time to acknowledge that open source IB has reached a significant stage in its evolution and to reorganise resources accordingly. Borland has shown its cards and it's time to move on, now that they have removed the clutter.

It's easy to see how these people can enter the picture from outside and perceive confusion. At the "sharp end" we are all racing against the clock on the technical issues to meet the most urgent community need - free binaries that can be used with confidence. It's great that these windows open to get assistance with other urgent needs.

>While I understand these better than Markus seems to, his confusion tells us
>something useful. The current situation is confusing. It alienates new
>people because there is overlapping information/utility/goals behind each of
>the websites associated with IB/Firebird. It's difficult to understand and
>it's too easy to trip over someone's jangled nerves.

Quite so!

>Marcus wishes for a world where we can ignore Borland and their disingenuous
>OSS marketing tactics. And you know what, so do I.

And so do I. Really, I don't think the community has been in a position to ignore Borland until very recently. For months we have been *guessing* - now we know what it's really about, we can all move forward, adapt and adopt. But change should occur in the context of what's already built: otherwise, we all lose our incentive.

>At some point a decision needs to be taken that there is no point staying on
>the fence with FireBird, particularly when it comes to marketing it to
>newcomers. Not doing so leads to a situation where potential new users move
>on to MySQL or Postgresql just because their situation seems more stable and
>scruitable than the Firebird one.

Certainly! However, IMO, we have a situation with InterBase/Firebird that doesn't exist with MySQL or PG. That is, commercial users of InterBase, especially of v. 6, remain very dependent for peer support on the individuals who are active in Firebird. In many cases, commercial users have stayed with IB on the prospect of its development moving into the committed professional custodianship of that group. That matters a lot to Firebird, because those users will all be considering upgrades in the future.

Peer support offered freely by non-Borland people was always one of InterBase's great strengths. It's unthinkable that those at the sharp end of Firebird would be willing to abandon the "branded InterBase" users. We will solve the apparent contradictions with an information environment that works for everybody, not by ruthlessly setting ourselves apart and cutting off those who need to be "branded InterBase" users for the time being.


Cheers,
Helen

All for Open and Open for All
InterBase Developer Initiative · http://www.interbase2000.org
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