Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: What is BizTalk?

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:5/26/1999; 8:29:06 AM
Topic:What is BizTalk?
Msg #:6731 (In response to 6722)
Prev/Next:6730 / 6732

My main problem with BizTalk is not the idea but that it's meant to be an open standards body that acts as a hub for collection and publication of many different schemas from many different businesses - and we're meant to trust Microsoft with running it. Microsoft has talked in the past (most notably in the Halloween docs) about commoditisation of protocols - would you put your protocol in Microsoft's hands?

No, of course not. It's actually like all the things I see coming out of W3C, they're pushing the problem further and further away. There just need to be compatible clients and servers. They're making it more and more confusing to understand what that means. For me, I like using XML to specify user interfaces and storage structures in a database. I don't need namespaces, schemas, CSS or whatever. I just like having a way of entering stuff into the computer that has a chance of being understood by another piece of software. All this extra bullshit is just an annoyance, gives the reporters something to write about, and gives people book contracts.

XML as a way of interchanging data is dying before our eyes. I knew we were heading down a slippery slope when I heard about ICE and asked Vignette why we weren't invited into the process. They're using XML as a competitive advantage. That's the end of the promise of XML. It was the most likely outcome of course, given the greedy short-sighted nature of the architects in the PC software business, not just at Microsoft.




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