I don’t know if thinrich is a word. Actually I know only too well that its not, but i thought I would throw it out there anyway. AJAX? What is that? Its a development style that allows you to build “thinrich” applications.
Anyhow, Stepho has this to say on the subject:
Firefox in that respect is more than just a simple browser; it is increasingly the de facto foundation for cross-platform thin client approaches. While many rich client vendors have tended to roll their eyes at the possibility that browser based clients pose a legitimate threat, Salesforce.com and now SugarCRM have at least gotten some of them to sit up and pay attention. Throw in the really compelling user experiences being delivered by a reinvigorated population of web developers pushing the boundaries of design with Ajax, and it’s clear that Firefox is a platform worth investing in for any vendor with interests in seeing platform heterogeneity.
What he said… and perhaps what I said…
Looking at what Terminally Incoherent points out, IBM should probably call the US copyright office right now to ensure it doesn’t take the “IE only” decision (what were the copyright guys smoking that day, anyway?). Ah Section 508, that ought to do it… With IBM’s help, 508 is no longer an argument that can be used against Firefox.
I would like to add, on a related note, that examining IBM’s most recent contribution to Mozilla, there is a clear and substantive difference between HP’s approach which publicly calls for everyone else to only use GPL licenses (what was up with that red shirt and tie combo, the fugly girls woulda had a field day) and IBM’s pragmatic, contribution-oriented approach to source code license and management issues. As Steve Mills, IBM Software Group supremo likes to say: “Code talks… and BS walks.”
The most obvious way to strengthen the position of particular open source license is surely to contribute more code under its terms.
Somewhat ironic perhaps that HP’s tagline for its open source page is Actions Speak Louder Than Words.
[Note to HP: Jeremy Allison joined Novell recently so the SAMBA entry needs updating.]
No Comments