XML and Web Services In The News - 17 March 2004

Novell Exec: Don't Fear Open Source, Embrace It
Matt Hicks, eWEEK
Rather than viewing open source as a threat, IT software vendors must embrace the software development model and understand how it can fit into their core business, a Novell Inc. executive said in the opening keynote of the Open Source Business Conference 2004. The first-ever conference focused solely on open-source business models, OSBC 2004 is expected to draw about 700 attendees; even Microsoft Corp., considered one of open source's archenemies, is a sponsor and speaking at the event. Chris Stone, Novell vice chairman in the office of the CEO said open source does not spell the end of proprietary software but is invigorating the market with a "religious devotion to customers." Proprietary software vendors must focus on providing software and services at a higher level in the software stack. Open source is opening more choices for customers and exposing flaws in the proprietary software model, including its tendency to lock customers into a specific vendor and to force them to upgrade. "Those who fear the rise in open source just don't get it," said Stone.

Microsoft Exec: Open Source Model Endangers Software Economy
Paul Krill, InfoWorld
Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Jim Gray doubts American companies can compete on service if products are free. For-profit software companies will struggle for a business model against free software, said the Microsoft official. Jim Gray served on a panel pertaining to software trends, XML, Web services and grids at the Software Development Conference & Expo West 2004 show. "The thing I'm puzzled by is how there will be a software industry if there's open source," Gray said, disagreeing with a fellow panelist over the impacts of open source. Speaking in response to an audience question about the effect of open source on standards development, panelist Daniela Florescu, senior software engineer at BEA Systems, said implementations of standards such as XML Schema are being taken out of open source movements such as Apache.

Bringing Web Services Down to Mobile Java. Sun Adds XML, SOAP to J2ME HotSpot, Wireless Developer Tools
Edward J. Correia, Software Development Times
With the releases in February of new versions of its HotSpot JVM and Java Wireless Toolkit, and the launch of the Java Verified application certification program, Sun Microsystems Inc. claims to bring Web services to J2ME and to accelerate not only Java applications themselves, but also the process of verifying compatibility with devices and carrier networks. HotSpot also now integrates Java Technology for the Wireless Industry (JSR 185) and J2ME Web Services Specification (JSR 172), which he said not only define a consistent way for developers to deliver end-to-end Web services, but also include XML parsing and interoperability with SOAP and other transports. JSR 172 also includes WS-I compliance, enabling J2ME devices to access Web services using XML and SOAP. Rivas said the addition of the Java Technology for the Wireless Industry (JTWI) spec helps to organize relevant J2ME technologies together, such as MIDP, wireless messaging and mobile media; JSR 172 remains an optional package within JTWI.

Moving to XML: Does it Mean Throwing Out Your RDB Queries?
Jack Vaughan, Application Development Trends
XML has clear benefits as a lingua franca for integration, but it must co-exist with a well-established body of relational DB know-how. More than a few architects are concerned that they will soon have to throw a slew of finely tuned relational queries out the window and start over. JNetDirect recently unveiled software to address RDB-to-XML data mapping. JSQLMapper is a bidirectional data-mapping tool that cuts requirements for custom coding to bring relational data into XML format. With JSQLMapper, developers can create data mappings from existing relational data stores to XML documents.
See also: XML and Databases

Lessig: Be Wary of 'IP Extremists'. Stanford Professor Calls for Balanced Approach to Intellectual Property Laws.
Robert McMillan, InfoWorld
Silicon Valley needs to step up and protect the open traditions that have helped build the high-technology industry or run the risk of being dominated by "IP extremists" whose restrictions on the use of intellectual property (IP) would stifle innovation, Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig told an audience of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, lawyers, and venture capitalists at the Open Source Business Conference. Citing a decision last year by the World Intellectual Property Organization to cancel a meeting on the role of open source in world intellectual property law, Lessig said that the argument over intellectual property law has become unnecessarily polarized because entities such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) claim that there are only two choices when it comes to IP: maximum copyright protection or anarchy. Lessig's message clearly resonated with the approximately 500 attendees in the audience, who treated Lessig to a sustained ovation.
See also: the Creative Commons

VoiceXML 2.0 and Speech Recognition Grammar Published as W3C Recommendations.
XML Cover Pages
W3C has released the first two Recommendations in its Speech Interface Framework, aimed at supporting an estimated two billion fixed line and mobile phones. "VoiceXML 2.0" is for creating audio dialogs that feature synthesized speech, digitized audio, recognition of spoken and DTMF key input, recording of spoken input, telephony, and mixed initiative conversations. "Speech Recognition Grammar" supports VoiceXML by defining responses to spoken prompts.

OASIS Forms TCs for Web Services Resource Framework and Web Services Notification.
XML Cover Pages
Two OASIS TCs have been formed to continue work on the refactoring of OGSI Version 1.0: the Web Services Resource Framework TC and Web Services Notification TC. The WSRF TC will define a set of royalty-free, interoperable, and modular specifications supporting a generic and open framework for modeling and accessing stateful resources using Web services. The WSN TC will define specifications that standardize use of the Notification pattern by Web services.