The Smoking Monkey has announced the release of OpenSSO Express Build 7, which includes key new features including: • Federation with Google Apps Premier • Additional Containers (like GlassFish v3 Prelude!) • Support for OpenDS Standard Edition OpenSSO Express is a very interesting product as it is an integral part of our official Roadmap and is fully supported. Sun will answer questions and will fix bugs on it but, unlike with OpenSSO Enterprise, customers are required to upgrade to a later Express or to the Enterprise binary to get the fixes.

The upgrade requirement means that the sustaining tail is much shorter, and manageable, which is why we can push the Express releases as often as we do. An Express release is not for all types of customers but it is ideal for those that want the latest features now and are willing to upgrade later; and those that do not want them just wait for the Enterprise releases. To simplify the sales story, the support plan for OpenSSO Enterprise includes OpenSSO Express.

Other related entries are tagged OpenSSO.

This comment in Cay's Recent Post called my attention:

... the JCP has become increasingly irrelevant... ... most of us have simply moved on to open source Java technologies

I disagree with the implication that the JCP and Open Source are mutually exclusive. Although the JCP can improve - and Open Source can help there as shown by how the JSR 311 EG develops JAX-RS - I believe users benefit the most from the combination of a strong standards body and open source.

Many of the GlassFish Server new customers are an example of this interaction: they are replacing expensive closed source AppServers with GlassFish. The strong Java EE standard means that the transition is relatively easy; the transparency of GlassFish (facilitated by Open Source) further simplifies that port, and Open Source in GF also guarantees to the customer that the cost cannot be unreasonable - otherwise a fork would appear. The standard enables easy entry into and easy exit from different implementations and enables competition; Open Source injects good qualities into that competition. And competition is good for customers.

Commercial Open Source is a game changer, but it is also a game of balances between different interests: the free user and the paying customer, the individual developer and the partner and the corporate developer, short-term adoption and long-term revenue. There are a number of different business models for OpenSource that attempt to navigate these interests and Sun follows a combination of support, services, hardware/systems drag, and Add-Ons.

Sun just announced a new Add-On as part of the MySQL Enterprise Subscription. The MySQL Query Analyzer is designed to save time and effort in finding and fixing problem queries; "time and effort vs money" being the trade-off between the free and for-pay offerings. For details, check the Overview article, Zach's Introduction and the interview with the project lead, Mark Matthews. Coverage of the new offering includes InformationWeek and ComputerWorld. There is already a very nice testimonial from the Clickability CTO; another report (nb. from a sun employee) is here. And you can make your own evaluation through the MySQL Trials offering.

Last week SpringSource announced a new Enterprise Maintenance Policy. This has triggered quite a bit of Web activity (if you read French, check out Alexis Note) specially this long TSS thread.

A number of the reactions are negative; I suspect the biggest problem is not the specifics of the new business model - there are many valid Open Source business models - but that this is a change in the assumptions under which many people interacted with the Spring framework. One of the advantages we had at GlassFish is that we designed and advertised the community and enterprise model at the same time.

The TSS thread also reminded me of Scott McNealy's point about Cost-of-Exit; one of the benefits of standards with multiple implementations is that they encourage vendors to provide good service because the CoE is low. And I'll insert a plug for the EJB 3.1 Webinar. BTW, Rail Gauges are a good example of the "Cost of Exit": Spain standardized on Iberian Gauge in the mid-19th century; there are plans to switch to standard gauge, but I'll believe it when it happens...

Today we crossed the 150K mark with the GlassFish registrations (150,087 to be precise). We started the program late December 07, with the GlassFish v2U1 release (announcement), ramping up since then to a current rate around 25K registrations a month. The program is totally voluntary and the high registration numbers in the program - even in its current, nascent form - is another indicator of the interest on the GlassFish Server.

We have started GlassFish For Business, a news blog that will cover Deployment and Business Needs around GlassFish and will report on Sun's offerings like our Enterprise Support, Training and Partner programs. No changes to the other blogs I'm involved with: The Aquarium - focused on important news in the larger GlassFish community and Adoption Stories. I have a small backlog of relevant pieces, so there will be some catching up over the next few days. So far I've posted some overview content including: Intro to the Blog, an Overview of Enterprise Support for GF from Sun, and Yael's Screencast on Online Interactions. The bulk of the entries so far are focused on the Sustaining Patches/Releases. As of this morning, I've caught up with the GlassFish v1 releases, including: • General Overview • Public Releases: GFv1 and GFv1 U1, • Patches from Sun's Commercial Offering: GFv1 U1p1, GFv1 U1p2, GFv1 U1p3, GFv1 U1p4, You can keep up with the posts via the feeds (ATOM and RSS) or directly to the GFB Website.

PS - I tried to find the right picture for this entry but I couldn't choose just one so I made a small collage from Los Altos in California to Wall Street in Mahattan to a Shopping Mall in Bristol to Commercial Street in Bangalore. I thought about adding Sand Hill Rd but it makes for boring pictures!