Inspiration

This is just too funny not to share...

Star Trek Inspirational Posters

Sun/MySQL Revisited

Now that we've gotten past the initial excitement of the Sun/MySQL transaction, a little reasoned analysis is in order. Fortunately, somebody has time to do this.

A couple of interesting points:

• This acquisition places Sun "at the center of the Internet" (their words), which makes sense since MySQL is very popular with Internet companies and startups. It is less exciting to the BI world - PostgreSQL seems to be the open-source choice there. I'm not quite sold on this argument from the BI perspective - I'm optimistic that MySQL will become more pervasive because of Sun's financial backing.
• This acquisition could also mean that Sun is positioning itself as an "alternative stack" for infrastructure architecture, with LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) going up against Microsoft's .Net architecture. I'm all for this, only if it simply keeps Microsoft on its toes, but it also makes me nostalgic for the mid-90s when Sun and Microsoft were routinely at each others' throats.

Good times...good times...

Repeat After Me

This cannot be said often enough, or loudly enough...

MDM Is Not a Product

Thanks, Rick

Quote of the Day

Truth is where you find it...from James McGovern:

Since the enterprise is filled with silly little creatures attempting to survive, maybe the most CMMI certified repeatable process is to not learn from the mistakes of others.

Enterprise Architecture: Why Do People Make So Many Mistakes?

So Now It's Official

This one's been in the oven for a few months, so the actual announcement is kind of anti-climactic...

Oracle to Buy BEA for $8.5 Billion

This negotiation apprears to be similar to the Peoplesoft purchase, where Oracle initially lowballs the offer, BEA sets a high price, and they meet in the middle over a couple of months*. In my opinion, this isn't as big a news story as the Sun/MySQL news, but I guess that just reveals my bias in the tech world.

But...what's up with this?

Ellison on a Short Leash in BEA Merger Announcement

* I put the start of the real Oracle-Peoplesoft negotiations at when Craig Conway was sacked in late 2004. I told people at the time, "It will be done within three months. They're just haggling on price now."

More on Sun/MySQL Purchase

I think this gets it about right...

What Sun's acquisition of MySQL means for the software industry

And I agree - exciting times!

Potentially Huge

Sun Pays $1 Billion for MySQL

Does this mean that MySQL now has the support network to contend seriously in large enterprises? Sun embraces open source in a big way, so I'm not worried that MySQL will somehow become closed down. But I am intrigued that MySQL might be able to compete on an even footing with Oracle, Microsoft and IBM with a comparable product.

As Alice always said, it just becomes curiouser and curiouser...

You're Not Alone

Study: Two-Thirds of Users Don't Deploy Oracle Quarterly Critical Patches

I have not been to one client in my career that has the dedicated staff required to track, test, and deploy all of the various patches for all of the various applications in the enterprise in a timely manner. I understand the world from the vendor's perspective - they're trying to avoid lawsuits, mainly. But Oracle found out in the first two years of the PeopleSoft merger that most companies aren't going to drop millions of dollars just because Oracle thinks it's a good idea.

I sense a new model approaching - I'm just not smart enough to know what it will look like (or else I'd implement it and retire)...

Your Tax Dollars at Work

A colleague of mine asked me today if I was bothered by the RealID news today...naaah. This is the kind of thing that fires me up:

TSA Site Put Travelers at Risk

Government creates a flawed system out of panic...attempts to make it right by exposing people to identity theft...persecutes those who blow the whistle...called on all of this by a congressional report...refuses to address the report since it's "old news"...

Sigh.

The SDLC Dream Team

A post that warms my cynical heart...

SDLC - The Dream Team

Quick Question

How many program/project managers who are killing their ERP projects with complexity lean toward a flat tax politically?

Discuss...

This Drives Me Nuts

...but not for the reason you might think...

Office 2003 SP3 Blocks Old File Formats

Aside from the obvious disregard for customers that is being displayed, this quote from a Microsoft evangelist is irritating:

The months-old Service Pack 3 (SP3) for Office 2003, said Viral Tapara, a U.K.-based IT evangelist for Microsoft, blocks old file formats for security purposes. Some older file formats, including some from Microsoft, are insecure and do not satisfy new attack vectors that hackers can use to execute malicious code," maintained Tapara. "The decision to block the formats is strictly to protect your machine from being compromised."

This quote describes software that is "unsecure", not "insecure." Insecure software continually asks you, "Are you sure?"

Yeah, I know, I need more important things to think about...

I Always Thought

...that I was doing something important with my life. Now I know for sure...

Data Quality's Threat to Democracy

(from Intelligent Enterprise)