Joe, I still dont think you've even come close to proving your original statement about ColdFusion being a weak language as a result.
-Adam On 8/6/05, Joseph Flanigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > published formal specification of CFML is a two-edged sword > > I am going to research, develop and publish the "Official ColdFusion > Language Specification". The specification will be a formal notation on the > language, CFL. This is something that does not exist. So it will be new > work. I will own the copyright on the specification. > > The work to research and develop the CFL specification will be > collaborative effort. Members of the collaboration will have rights to the > specification. Others will have to pay for rights. > > Joseph > > > > At 07:35 AM 8/6/2005, you wrote: > > >From a business perspective, published formal specification of CFML > >is a two-edged swordd formal specification of CFML > >is a two-edged sword. The reasons to publish a formal spec are: (1) to allow > >the possibility of alternate implementations; and, (2) to allow the > >possibility of "others" to contribute to the evolution of the specification. > > > >The negative to (1) is that you open the door wider to competition (as > >BlueDragon demonstrates, that door is already open even without a formal > >spec). The worst-case scenario from a commercial software vendor's > >perspective is that someone uses the published spec to create an open source > >implementation that puts you out of business. The negative to (2) is that > >you lose control of the spec, though I think that Sun has demonstrated a > >good way to allow outsiders to participate in development of Java specs > >without losing control of the process. > > > >The positives to having a published formal spec is that you remove the > >stigma of CFML being a proprietary language supported by only a single > >vendor. For example, there would have been no wailing or gnashing of teeth > >when Macromedia acquired Allaire, or when the Adobe acquisition of > >Macromedia was announced, because the future of CFML would no longer be so > >dependent on a single company. Another positive is that you can more openly > >allow your customers to contribute to the language specification process. > > > >I've made several proposals over the past few years (though not recently) to > >people fairly high up in Macromedia to move to a more open, formal process > >for specifying CFML. They're not interested, and that's fine--they need to > >make decisions based on their own perceived best interests. But, I think > >their decision to keep CFML closed and proprietary ultimately means CFML > >will always be a niche technology that probably won't grow in market share > >much beyond what it has today. > > > >On a sort of related note, I'm always puzzled when people who embrace "open" > >technologies, such as Linux and Java, can also embrace ColdFusion, which a > >"closed" technology; there seems to be a contradiction here. In fact, this > >contradiction seems to exist within the ColdFusion development team itself, > >which relies heavily on open source technology (Axis, JasperReports, iText, > >various Jakarta projects), but is resistant to opening CFML. > > > >It seems to me that if "openness" is a good thing at the operating system > >and platform levels, then it's also a good thing at the application server > >level. Or maybe the embrace of Linux and Java is less about "openness" and > >more about "not Microsoft", in which case there's no contradiction in also > >embracing ColdFusion. > > > >Vince Bonfanti > >http://blog.newatlanta.com > > > >New Atlanta Communications, LLC > >http://www.newatlanta.com > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Barney Boisvert > > > Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 8:44 PM > > > To: [email protected] > > > Subject: Re: [CFCDev] WOT: CFML as XML > > > > > > On 8/5/05, Joseph Flanigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > <snip /> > > > > A much better energy would be asking how to make CF better > > > business choice. > > > > > > I'm interested (as an unaffected bystander) in why you think > > > CF not having a formal language spec that is available to the > > > public makes it a poor business choice. This might be better > > > taken off-list, but I'm definitely interested. I don't know > > > about you, but I'm buying a language implementation, not a > > > langauge specification. > > > > > > cheers, > > > barneyb > > > > > > -- > > > Barney Boisvert > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > 360.319.6145 > > > http://www.barneyb.com/ > > > > > > Got Gmail? I have 50 invites. > > > > > > > > > > > > >---------------------------------------------------------- > >You are subscribed to cfcdev. 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