Oy weh. I thought I had said enough on this subject, but I feel
like I have to jump in here again in an appeal for, er, that very
difficult state of mind of calm and neutral judgement. The release
by Mr. Britt Johnson was not condescending. Just about everything
in it can be taken in good faith, perhaps there is a little tilt
to human emotion when he softly alleges that MySQL AB "has tried
to incite the community" or some such.
This statement/release was very ordinary, very normal, very to-the-point
for any situation such as this. Condescending, no. Condescension,
like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
Perhaps there are three to seven people on this list that know what is
really going on, and what the true facts are behind this dispute
that is, in my opinion, something common in the everyday friction
of business where misunderstandings grow, sins of omission develop,
and grievances abound.
The MySQL community is a bit "different" than most of the other
Open Source communities, with the possible exception of PHP.
MySQL is "Monty". Everybody loves Monty. I have not had the
pleasure of meeting him personally, but MySQL has, perhaps,
been, or at least perceived as, a one-man-show. Monty is our
hero. But, to take very emotional sides on this issue only
validates that non-productive bromide, "the enemy of my
friend is my enemy", something senseless in law, and thankfully
so.
But, none of us know the train of events that led to this
dispute, none of us. To knee-jerk attribution of malice on
the part of NuSphere is just not justified. They believed
they had an understanding, the other party believed they
had an understanding.
Perhaps this is unfair, and inviting self-immolation, but
I would allege that most of the people on this list are very
altruistic people, love the "idea" of Open Source. However,
the corollary to that state-of-mind is not that, somehow,
making money out of Open Source is "exploitation", nor, and I
quote from below "we have nothing but contempt for any commercial
endeavour that would attempt to engulf and overwhelm it's
Open Source parent". This certainly is attributing bad faith
to NuSphere/Progress.
Now, guys, be fair. NuSphere paid MySQL AB $325K for _something_.
NuSphere just didn't come out of the woodwork and claim the
goldmine with no prior contact, discussions, and understandings.
And there are possible scenarios that would be even more distressing
for the admirers of Monty. What if the venture capitalists
setting up the underwriting for MySQL AB in which Monty, our
hero, may make, probably deservadly so, millions of dollars,
have imposed some very onerous conditions that has Monty in
a moral trap? What if these VC guys, sharks that don't miss
a thing, find out in their discovery that these naive, altruistic
MySQL AB guys have "given away the store" for a measly $325K,
and they are looking at the paper trail and telling MySQL AB
that they have to "revoke" those previous handshake agreements
and shaky FAX transmissions, you babes, because we, the VC's, insist
that
the trademark rights be brought back in house before the IPO,
and damn any of your prior understandings. Anything is possible...
There is huge drama here, I can speculate and explain to myself
what may be happening, but I certainly will not believe that
NuSphere is a scoundrel until the truth comes out. And saying
that will not, ever, diminish my respect for Monty and MySQL AB,
for that is a different thing that stands by itself.
So, what did NuSphere pay $325K for? For the right to be
castigated by us altruists? Are they to be apriori run
out of town, these, er, money grubbing, evil empire,
scumbags -- without letting them present their side of the
story, and to have it be considered fairly? I hope not....
_jef
-------------------------------
"Laszlo G. Szijarto" wrote:
>
> Again, Mr. Johnston,
> NuSphere shows very poor public relations abilities. Adopting such a
> condescending tone toward MySQL AB, to which, Sir, you must understand, you
> are completely indebted for everything that you have and are, will further
> alienate you from the supporters of MySQL. NuSphere's encroachment upon
> MySQL has nothing short parricidal qualities about it. And, I'm sure you'll
> find, those others of us who are indebted to MySQL AB and their efforts,
> will come to the defense of their beleaguered parent. MySQL can and
> eventually WOULD have developed the functionalities NuSphere introduced --
> perhaps over a longer course of time -- but inevitably just the same. Don't
> you realize that the most ardent and loyal adherents of MySQL are so
> precisely because MySQL is open source and that we have nothing but contempt
> for any commercial endeavour that would attempt to engulf and overwhelm its
> open source parent? How dare you make the following disparaging and
> condescending comments -- with such an air of superiority and haughtiness.
> You should approach MySQL AB with a sense of humility, and with suppliant
> tones, as befits and inferior and a child before a superior or a parent.
>
> >The public postings and attempts to incite the
> > community were not in the best interest of MySQL. >We would welcome a
> productive dialog rather than a >public campaign.
>
> >The pattern that has taken place
> > over the past several months of extreme action by >MySQL AB, followed by
> overtures for negotiation, >continues to damage the trust needed to
> establish the >further agreements that MySQL AB
> > seeks. We note that public statements have been made >after the
> invitation, statements that are not in the spirit of >the invitation.
>
> >Your willingness
> > to return to resolving our issues in a business-like >fashion would be
> > welcome.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Britt Johnston" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 6:59 PM
> Subject: Re: mysql.org
>
> > Re: Open Invitation to NuSphere and Progress
> >
> > NuSphere accepts MySQL AB's invitation to discuss resolution of
> > our business issues. NuSphere and MySQL AB have already spoken via
> > phone and confirmed discussions will commence on Friday, July 20th.
> >
> > NuSphere would welcome a fresh approach by MySQL AB to resolving
> > these issues. The public postings and attempts to incite the
> > community were not in the best interest of MySQL. We would
> > welcome a productive dialog rather than a public campaign.
> >
> > NuSphere requests that MySQL AB continue discussions in the tone
> > and spirit of the invitation. The pattern that has taken place
> > over the past several months of extreme action by MySQL AB,
> > followed by overtures for negotiation, continues to damage
> > the trust needed to establish the further agreements that MySQL AB
> > seeks. We note that public statements have been made after the
> > invitation, statements that are not in the spirit of the invitation.
> >
> > During our discussions commencing Friday, we are willing to
> > address the issue of delaying legal proceedings. MySQL AB
> > must understand that its strong and very public statements denying
> > the validity of the agreement we entered into on June 21, 2000,
> > denying the rights granted to use MySQL related trademarks, and now
> > denying the financial and technical contributions that NuSphere has
> > made to MySQL, all underscore the need to seek legal enforcement of
> > our rights. Any delay that NuSphere could agree to would require
> > that MySQL AB show restraint and a spirit of cooperation in its
> > ongoing public statements.
> >
> > As you are aware, we are forming a not-for-profit corporation to
> > focus on building and supporting a larger MySQL development
> > community and promoting MySQL. The mysql.org domain is expected
> > to be transferred to that organization. NuSphere has taken the
> > lead and is covering the costs of forming this organization and
> > expects it will take some time before it can operate on its own.
> > We firmly believe that establishing a source of information
> > independent
> > of any for-profit corporation is an important step for the long term
> > health of the MySQL community. We encourage you to reconsider your
> > opposition and join us in supporting this effort.
> >
> > The Gemini storage manager is now available under the GPL license via
> > mysql.org. The new Gemini table handler, storage manager, and the
> > existing MyISAM table handler provide the most scalable and reliable
> > version of MySQL ever. This release completes the commitment NuSphere
> > made and we jointly announced in January 2001 when our relationship
> > was strong.
> >
> > Gemini as released under the GPL provides all the support for
> > transactions, row level locking and crash recovery essential for
> > building commercial applications. MySQL AB is encouraged to
> > incorporate this significant contribution to the MySQL server
> > sources to eliminate concerns about a fork. Regrettably MySQL AB
> > cut off NuSphere's prior direct access to make those changes.
> >
> > NuSphere is a major sponsor of the OSCON 2001 conference and intends
> > to heavily promote MySQL at the event. NuSphere has organized a
> > MySQL track to further promote MySQL on both a technical and business
> > level at the conference. NuSphere continues to support the formation
> > of a noncommercial organization. All of these demonstrate the
> > strength
> > and depth of our commitment to the MySQL community. Your willingness
> > to return to resolving our issues in a business-like fashion would be
> > welcome.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Britt Johnston
> > CTO, NuSphere Corporation
> >
> > --
> >
> > D. Britton Johnston 603-578-6707 Nashua
> > Chief Technology Officer 781-280-4954 Bedford
> > NuSphere Corporation 781-280-4600 Main
> > 14 Oak Park 781-280-4646 Fax
> > Bedford, MA 01730 www.nusphere.com
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
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--
Justin Farnsworth
Eye Integrated Communications
321 South Evans - Suite 203
Greenville, NC 27858 | Tel: (252) 353-0722
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