Ends with:
RPC over HTTP via XML
OK, now look at this situation with different colored glasses.
The Internet is a platform. A platform is made up of tools and
runtimes. Internet tools run on all kinds of operating systems,
as do the runtimes. The beauty of the net is its simplicity, its
ubiquity and its lack of a controlling vendor.
TCP is the runtime environment of the Internet. It's deeply
competitive with Microsoft, and it's larger than Microsoft.
The stronger TCP is, the more outside of Microsoft's control
it is, the more powerful everyone else will be.
The Unix people have been in a struggle with everyone else
over who owns the Internet. I've been writing about this for a
long time. It would be great if they could let go of the struggle
and realize that the Internet is owned by the universe, no
single operating system or flavor of operating system can
contain it.
This is important because there is another layer coming on
the Internet, a very simple one, that can build on COM, on
Windows and elsewhere, and provide a flat playing field for
everyone.
It's RPC over HTTP via XML. I believe it's the next protocol
for runtimes. We'll be posting more notes on this on Scripting
News over the next few weeks. Please, if you care about the
independence of the Internet, tune in. Thanks!
Bizarre IMO, but various XML pundits might like to pass XML pointers
to Dave. Just before this section, he does say 'There's a technical
revolution hidden inside Windows, a far-reaching architecture, called
COM', which some here may not agree with.
L.
why is the solution _always_ to slam another layer on top?
<L.Wood@surrey.ac.uk>PGP<http://www.sat-net.com/L.Wood/>+44-1483-300800x3641