Yet another reason to avoid Apache.org
Posted by billburke on August 29, 2009
I find it strange how Apache.org allows for competing projects as they don’t really position themselves as a Sourceforge or Google Code. I know I’m pretty stupid for creating buzz about a competitor, but IBM and HP have launched a new JAX-RS effort at Apache.org. The thing is, the Apache CXF project already has a pretty good certified JAX-RS implementation. If I were Sergey or Dan I’d be pretty pissed. This just solidifies my opinion that Apache.org is a horrible place to host an open source project or to build start an open source business.
Not only do you have to worry about some Apache bureaucrat pulling rank on you or disallowing you to commit too much work to a project, you also have to worry about sharing your already diluted brand with a competing project. With a competing project the “Apache” in front of your project’s name ceases to add any value to the uniqueness of your project.
BTW, I don’t mean to pick on IBM and HP. I’m just annoyed at Apache.org. While it may be a great place for big vendors to collaborate at a neutral site, Apache.org is just a horrible place for the little people of the world.
I also shouldn’t pick on Apache.org so much. They are a good organization with a good message and good ideals. I just want to encourage future OSS developers to try and go at things on their own. Learn to promote their project on their own without relying on the Apache brand. Its better for them in the long run.
Daniel Kulp said
I just want to point out that if I or Sergey were too “pissed” it would be a bit hypocritical considering CXF itself originally overlapped fairly closely with Axis2 and the other WebServices stuff at Apache.
Would I have preferred if they worked closer with CXF to enhance CXF, you bet. That would have been great. But they didn’t. The main thing we’ll need to do is make sure we differentiate ourselves well and respond well to our users needs. I think CXF has a very good track record of doing that and should continue to do so. If people want to change from CXF to Wink (or to Jersey or to Resteasy or ….), that’s their prerogative. I’d appreciate it if they would let the CXF folks know why so we could try addressing those issues and concerns. That could benefit everyone.
Dan
billburke said
Dan, you guys were a bit different though. You were well established already. My I ask why you moved to Apache.org?
Ross Gardler said
The ASF encourages competing projects because it increases innovation within the communities. In many cases code can be shared between competing projects which results in higher quality.
There is always more than one way to do something, sometimes the “right” way cannot be seen until it is tried out in the real world. Sometimes the “right” way is dependent on use case, in which case there are multiple “right” ways. having these “competing” projects in the same collaborative community results, in the long run, in better code.
Of course, if the projects don’t talk to one another and share code and ideas then the benefit is lost. If the ASF were not to accept competing projects there would be an increased chance of the projects operating in isolation and thus less chance of higher quality in one or both of the projects.
billburke said
Sounds great Ross, but, this doesn’t encourage me to create a project at Apache.org. Seriously, what are the benefits of hosting at Apache.org when I can get the same (and better) services from Sourceforge.net and Google Code.