> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2003 1:42 PM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: CF Compatability > > What's the incentive to give away CF, the test suites or the language to > New Atalnta and others?
I'm not sure if this was in response to me... but egocentrically I'll assume it is. ;^) Creating a specification is not "giving away" the language. Just as Sun has (against tremendous prodding) refused to give Java away, neither does MM have to give away CF. "Published Specification" doesn't have to be "Open Source". A specification is helpful to all involved. At he very least a specification allows developers to be absolutely clear on the intended behavior of any part of the language. A published specification would also go a long way to silence those that claim CF is a "proprietary" solution that "can't be counted on". A specification is Macromedia's promise to developers that the language will work in a certain way. It's a formalization of a language that many people see as informal. I'm not saying "give CF away" or submit it to standards bodies or anything like that. I'm saying that Macromedia itself should publish the standard and begin to separate CF the app server from CFML the language. You COULD submit CFML to something like ECMA, I'd applaud the decision, but specifications are a separate matter. Yes, it would allow companies like New Atlanta to create better versions of their software (which would help to lessen possible market fragmentation - meaning that somebody could more easily switch from Blue Dragon to CF if need be). It seems to me that Macromedia could consider Blue Dragon as an opportunity. There seems to be business to be had. For example, Blue Dragon is missing many features of CF (Verity, Charting, etc): if the market for it becomes large enough Macromedia could choose to sell a mid-ranged product that added these supporting services to Blue Dragon. It's also a near certainty that most Blue Dragon developers will be using Macromedia tools to develop in. Jim Davis President, http://www.depressedpress.com Webmaster, http://www.firstnight.org Webmaster, http://www.cfAdvocacy.org Senior Consultant, http://www.metlife.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
