Web Service Mod for Apache

Michael writes "In the article "Will Open Source Lose the Battle for the Web?" a lot of people wondered what role Apache will play in a future that might be dominated by .Net. The company for which I work created a mod for Apache called NetHesive that converts a standalone library or application into a web service. NetHesive provides a wire format that's cleaner than SOAP and allows expert conversion between native data and the public interface. Most importantly, it supports SOAP 1.2 along with custom XML procedure calls. We're not sure we ever want to develop for .Net but we want to leave that possibility open. We thought other developers might feel the same way, so we created a method for deploying a web service that doesn't lock us out of any future frameworks. We're curious about Apache fans' reactions to NetHesive. Does this answer some of your concerns about Apache's future?"

Comments

I don't get it

[Ian Bicking]

I looked at a little demo y'all put up, and I'm way underimpressed. This configuration file is supposed to make my life easier? I mean, for something on the level of "hello world" that takes a hell of a lot of typing.

Maybe I'm missing the point when it comes to SOAP and all that -- but I've yet to see a really good description of why the hell I (as a web developer) should really care. It's not like I can't communicate over the net already. This makes the communication a bit more robust, perhaps... or maybe more easily integrated. But you can put a wrapper around all the various protocols you need and get the same thing. And you can do that now, with systems that are set up now, everywhere. That's why we use real programming languages and not XML.

The website also seems to imply that NetHesive will be closed source. In other words, I care as much about it as I do about web-enabled COBOL environments. If you can get people to use it and buy it, fine. But you aren't saving anyone. You won't be part of any revolution -- there are already more than enough niche commercial web products around. Hell, there's more than enough niche OSS web products around... but they usually whither and die more quickly, leaving the space more clean.

If there's a salvation for OSS, it's in the fact that people who actually get things done will still be doing things. Hell, if 44% of attempts to purchase online failed, I don't think web services are where attention needs to be focused. A good website/service is not a commodity yet, and most of the problems aren't things SOAP/.NET/NetHesive address.

Apache already plays well with SOAP

[Paul Bain]

[A] lot of people wondered what role Apache will play in a future that might be dominated by .Net.

Not I, because I am aware that the Apache Software Foundation has been working on SOAP for sometime. Besides, Microsoft cannot dominate the future because, in the future, interoperability between systems will require open standards and open protocols that are not determined by a single corporation or business interest.

Does this answer some of your concerns about Apache's future?

Not at all. I am not concerned about Apache's future. I know that it will continue to thrive. Apache 2.0 has been in beta since March and will probably soon be released. Other Apache projects also kick butt, e.g., Tomcat 4.0, whose release is also imminent.

The NetHesive product seems primarily a savior for legacy applications, not the Apache web server.