Binstock does a quick compare and contrast between Ruby and NetRexx, showing how an active community promoted Ruby, and NetRexx's lack of a community left it languishing. I think that this analysis is only partly true, and misses part of the value of open source.

Specifically, IBM's proprietary NetRexx can't …

See The hubris of calendrical calculations. And Calendrical Calculations, Part 2.

"Here are the exact words from the client when I suggested using the "official calendar": I’m aware of other systems having tables for Holidays but I don’t know that we can piggy back off any of them …

While "Browser as OS" is what appears to be happening. The browser is the front-end for many applications. Even in the Ajax case, however, the browser is only one piece of the application, and the browser isn't relevant on the server side.

The important point that is missed in the …

Here's the scenario I see:

1. The customer bought something, and then customized it. The customization -- by definition -- must have had significant strategic value.
2. The customer set it aside, making no more changes of any kind. Okay, there were bug fixes, but nothing significant. The developers were re-assigned to something new …

Here's another symptom of a Request for Faerie Dust™:

A proposal that includes (1) analysis, (2) proof-of-concept, and (3) a plan for a solution.

Sounds sensible, doesn't it? Study it, prove that you can solve it, and write the complete plan to solve it.

Sounded sensible to me, until I …

Here's a novel point of view on open source software.

'In fact, one of the things Google likes about open source software is that it facilitates secrecy. "If we had to go and buy software licenses, or code licenses, based on seats, people would absolutely know what the Google infrastructure …

Once I learned C++, all my C programming became poor-man's OO.

• Every "class" became a C structure type.
• Every class structure was implemented as a header file that defined the structure and a bunch of method functions.
• Each method function would have a "self" argument, which was a pointer to …

Since most of these new-fangled dynamic languages are open-source, we have a a strange artificial barrier to considering the right solution for our problems. This barrier is "No Open Source" policy, usually framed as We'll Use Open Source Over My Dead Body™. It has to be examined carefully from several …

My thesis is that CIO's are herd animals, making purchasing decisions based on the perceived direction of the herd. They sense this through Gartner research reports. There are many competitors, but Gartner is the name-brand.

If Gartner signals a shift in the herd, then alternatives may become interesting. How will …

In a recent code review, I saw a bizarre habit. The author defended it so vehemently, I gave up on trying to explain the needless confusion it caused. The author was one of those "I always do it this way, and I'm always right." people, so nothing was gained by …