and then this hits the airwaves http://www.graniteds.org/confluence/display/INTRO/Granite+Data+Services+Overview
I'd like to say 3 things at this point: 1) I'm not trolling by chipping in here. My bottom line is to use powerful technology to solve serious problems that the boss will sign off on. if he doesn't there's no point me learning the stuff. I'm fighting this in other areas too - getting Breeze/Adobe Connect in, for example. 2) I much prefer shrink-wrapped over open-source anyday. I see it as an insurance policy which (IMHO) justifies paying money. some other bugger has sorted out all the dependancies so I don't have to. 3) this is somewhat the same argument that us ColdFusion people have been having for quite a while. EG: we need CF to make money to pay Tim Buntel and Jason Delmore and their team to keep going but we also need to ensure people don't faint at the price. we don't want CF to be put on the backburner like Authorware or Director. eh my 2c.
