Title: Some Conference Notes (Must Read for Mac Lovers)
I think Scott has done a great job wrapping up the conference, so I won’t try to redo that. However, there are some technical issues, and definitely some Mac issues ( for my mac brothers ) that I think are very exciting.
First, I would like to start by saying that I am on board 110% with WiTango and Phil and Sophie. I will definitely do my part in evangelising, and supporting the community while they are still in this transition.
Threading: One of the major performance issues with Tango 4 is its method of threading. It was originally written for Mac OS 9, and used a cooperative threading model that causes the program to choke at about 50 concurrent users. It also does not use keep alive connections. If you remember some of my previous posts, I thought by moving to Windows or Linux, I would get preemptive threading and solve my problems. But the old mac way of threading is embedded in all Tango 4 servers. So they all choke at about 50 users. Phil’s mentioned that this was one of the hottest issues, and that he was not aware of this problem when purchasing the assets, hence, one of the reasons for such a delay. The new WiTango team are dedicated to providing “next generation” app server, and so, of course, it needs preemptive threading. My understanding is that this work is largely complete. So the great news is that the 5.0 WiTango server will kick ass. (IMHO) Also, the code separating the different platforms has been largely reduced, so they should be able to provide version for all platforms at about the same time. They also mentioned adding keep alive connections, which would also be a serious performance boost, but I don’t know if that will make v5.
Mac OS X: WiTango v5 will provide an Apache plugin for OS X and WebStar 5, and will not be carbonized, but will be completely OS X native, relying on Mac OS X’s unix underpinnings. (Yahoo!) They also demoed the carbonized version of the editor, which looked fantastic. The work on this is also largely complete, but for the problems with the way apple now does appleevents and FileMaker Pro. My personal opinion is that WiTango should ship a WiTango v5 ODBC editor ASAP, and then add the FMP functionality when it comes in line. The carbonized editor is the highest on my wishlist because it is now the only thing I run in Classic now that Macromedia has stepped up to the plate.
Phil and Sophie: I have two comments about this topic. First, I got a great sense that they were excited about WiTango’s prospects on OS X. It also disturbs me when the platform I love is treated like a Red Headed Bastard Child. I do not get that feeling from them at all. Second, I would like to say this: Shame on you Phil and Sophie for not letting us get a better idea of who you were before the conference. Had I known that you were Tango developers (just like us, only bigger), about to lose face with your clients because of Pervasi** (just like us, only at a greater scale), and forced to tears about the demise of the Application Server you loved (just like us), I would have been much more supportive. As far as I knew you were just a smaller Pervasi** from Down Under that could screw the program even more. The one major difference between us and Phil and Sophie, is that they had the big brass ones (balls) to make an offer. They have my respect. Lastly, on this point, I would love to see Phil and Sophie post their story on this list. The whole community should hear it.
So basically, WiTango v5 is just about here, and it will be worth the wait. And Mac lovers should be bouncing off the walls.
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Robert Garcia
BigHead Technology
21053 Devonshire Suite 206
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Phone 818.773.8162
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