Yes, I agree I had that wrong in my HowTo, but I have modified it and
hope it's better now ;)

I think my revised view (see the first "About IBDI" message)
corresponds to what you say?

Best regards
Markus

--- In IBDI@y..., "Fabricio Araujo" <fabricioa@i...> wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Apr 2001 16:51:29 -0000, markus.soell@b... wrote:
>
> (This message my viewpoint of the things I read and observed about
Interbase.
> I not guarantee 100% accuracy the timeline localization of the
facts - maybe one
> or two is happened in a month and I mention it in the next... But
the basic things
> is there):
>
> Ok Markus, I read you how-to. Just a synthesis of the facts:
>
> December 99: Bill Karwin, former product manager of IB on Borprise
(Helen, correct me
> if I made a mistake here) and flames and hoaxes and all type of
speculation about the
> death of Interbase Relational Database Server came and flow like
lava rivers. This epoch
> is related, by the ones that were on NGs and message lists on that
moment, as being
> the "Black December". Pressure at Borland CEO gets to the sky.
>
> Jan 2000: Borland ( called Inprise on that moment) announce the
open of source code
> of Interbase RDBMS and Ann Harrison(original co-author of the
software) initiates nego-
> tiations related to the expurge of Interbase line of products from
Borland to a new compa-
> ny, commanded by her and Paul Reeves (initially)
>
> Feb 2K to June 2K: only BS from Borland. AnnH is employed on
Borland to command ne-
> gotiations. These months are the most important ones: IBDI born to
be THE Interbase
> community, aggregating all (as far as possible) IB developers
around the globe. Jason
> Wharton and Helen Borrie initiate the IBDI campaign on NGs and
mailing lists, trying to
> gather interest in the IB open-source project. A large and well
documented site (Interbase2000.com)
> is created as the headquarters of IBDI on web.
> Jim Starkey (original author and coordinator of the software)
initiates his efforts on creating
> a ODBC driver (free of the bugs and glitches of Visigenic and
Intersolv ones) with the plus
> of their design being intended to create a framework to create a
new IB API, less difficult
> and error-prone to program.
> IBDI born with the intention to gather people interest and
enthusiasm on Open-Source Interbase.
> * Jason Wharton: creator of a component set for Delphi and C++
Builder for native connec-
> tion Interbase using all its capabilities
> * Helen Borrie: well known IB user and collaborator in all suport
lists (in that moment, the one
> that exist - the main one - was the one hosted on www.mers.com)
>
> July 2K:
> * Ann Harrison and Borland cannot get a accordance(is this word
exist? I forgot the right one)
> and AnnH get out of Borland.
> * Borland decides to drive itself the open-sourcing of the
Interbase. Borland retains, to the fury
> of community, the following things:
> - Test suite, which without is nearly impossible (at July 2K) to
certify that a patch does not
> screw up the server. Allow also the certification against errors.
> - The name Interbase
> - Important documentation about architecture.
> * Jim Starkey stopped his efforts (as he were been paid for them)
because of AnnH (his wife)
> not getting a agreement and, because of this, not having the
money to Jim terminate the
> driver. (Other considerations are outside of the scope of this
message - if not, it will became
> a history book).
> * IBDI gets shocked. And start to develop a new business model
which allows Ann, Jim and
> Paul Reeves to give the needed critical support that Interbase
deserves.
> * Borland reveal the source, but AnnH and Jim ( as well as some
other key people) are not
> allowed to contribute with the source tree.
> * Borland tree is almost unbuildable outside their labs.
>
> August 2k - December 2K
> * IBDI creates the Firebirds and Firebird Ashed areas on
SourceForge (after a
> LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG discussion
> at NGs and mails where it will be put). Firebird Ashes (the
originally intended location)
> were abandoned after). Firebird became the project name also, due
to Borland turtle-
> slow on make decisions, became THE database of the open-source
community.
> * IbPhoenix rise up as the cristalization of the business model
intended to all Interbase
> line of server products, on all platforms. It's a company dedicated
to SUPPORT IB
> (or FB, does not matter here), with the paid support services
available to the application
> developers around the world.
> * IBDI does not negate its' origin and gather a enthusiastic group
to make the Firebird
> fly. Mark O'Donnahue was the first to offer his efforts - in this
moment, to clean-up and
> create a source-base buildable outside Borland labs. Others engaged
to the projects.
>
> Middle December 2K - Jan 2001
> - CERN alert about the "politically correct" backdoor. Firebird
gets ahead and patch
> the source much before Borland. Fights about the merit of "who make
the s* and
> why" fly around.
>
> - The rest you know...
>
> Because of this BRIEF list of facts, the actual status were
achieved.
> IBDI is dedicated to gather people interest on IB. Firebird born in
the need to
> make anxious developers to start working on code as early as
possible.
> It is made of people worried about IB future, actually (to me)
Interbase means
> Firebird.
>
> IBPhoenix is the support company where the guys who need paid
support to
> solve critical problems on production (or in-development) systems
get.
>
> Firebird is the product now. And the project on SourceForge.
>
> All that is people is IB community. IBDI is only the entity that
agglutinate
> the developers. Maybe, one day, exists only FIrebird organization
and
> FBDI - which are the people that are interested or worried on
Firebird.
>
> Actually, IBDI reaches the two: Interbase developers and Firebird
developers.
> IBDI is the voice of the developers around the world, changing the
way of the
> Firebird/Interbase even not needing to get at the code to reach
such a thing.
> (A little bit of poetry... ;-)))) )
>
> I hope that I have been clear...
>
> []s Fabricio
> Systems Developer