Slashdot Mirror
Apple Releases Rendezvous for Linux, Java, Windows
mblase writes "Apple released yesterday a developers preview of their Rendezvous technology for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris and Java. Rendezvous is an open protocol which uses industry standard IP protocols to allow devices to automatically find each other without the need to enter IP addresses or configure DNS servers."
Reader xxdarkxxmatterxx adds a link to a story at Macworld about the release."
Umm... Is it just me, or does this seems to be a little bit of a shot across the bow of Microsoft? Here we have Apple giving something to the community that will add some seriously cool networking capabilities, capabilities the likes of which have traditionally fallen within the realm of the OS itself. At the very least this takes away the ability for MS to use something like this for a "New in Longhorn!" marketing point.
I can't imagine that this makes MS particularly happy, but there's certainly not much they can do about it. Rendevous is seriously a cool technology, and I'm glad Apple decided to release it before MS came up with something similar but incompatible (and, of course, under their control).
Admittedly this argument could be made for Solaris, etc. But I would imagine those communities welcome this addition, whereas I would imagine MS to be a bit colder to the idea.
In any event, kudos to Apple.
I have a feeling this will be implemented into standard Linux use real fast. Having this technology for every platform will really help portability of hardware I think too. This is going to be another one of those things that Windows implements but does it horribly unstable so no one can really use it.
Whoever dies with the most toys wins.
I wouldn't call UPNP "superior" by any stretch of the imagination.
Comparisons have been done. I'd rather have low traffic and better service separation vs the "use-http-for-everything" strategy.
Apple continues to surprise me with their interest in designing software that is compatible for the Windows platform in addition to their own (and in this case, also Unix and GNU/Linux). While from Microsoft, they have typically steered to their flagship products and rarely ported them (with the exception of Office and IE) to other OSes.
Even as a frequent Windows user I have great respect for Apple and find their software for Windows actually crashes less then Microsoft made software(!). In addition, they are rarely so deeply entrenched in the OS that if you wanted ot change extension preferences it doesn't fuss as much.
I'd be interested in trying out this new technology and I'm sure it will make it big hit on all network sizes. Good thing for Apple that they released the specs before MS could claim any competing service! Let's all give some positive input to see this software hit new limits!Well it's actually more than that. It's the control over the hardware and the software that gives Apple the it just works vibe. Apple only has to qualify and QC a small subset of hardware, if Apple opens up to the PC world with the myriad of hardware combinations available, there is no way they could produce the same user experience.
zeroconf enabled DHCP server can point you in the right direction. Zeroconf outside of local networks makes no sense. When you ask for all the local printers, you don't want to get every one on the entire frickin internet.
For enterprise wide networks, you zeroconf/rendezvous acquire a DHCP server and a Directory server. From there, they will point you to the rest of the services in your enterprise *outside* of your local network.
Correct multicast switching is not a problem. Do you personally mess with something that intentionally messes up the broadcast address in TCP/IP?
Stuart Cheshire, the guy that first proposed Zeroconf and started the ZeroConf group did so as an Apple employee on Apple's dime. I think it's fair to say that it is an Apple technology that they opened up as a standard from the very beginning. This announcement is just that Apple is opening up it's own in-house implementation of an open standard that also started in their labs.
Most people don't buy Macs because of thier hardware, /.izens use iBooks/Powerbooks with Linux on them. Why? Because Apple's laptops are a nice piece of hardware. They have decent, if not overwhelming performance stats, they automatically go to sleep when you close the lid, they look nice, certain models don't weigh a whole lot for all the features you get, and they have long battery life.
You would be surprised. Outside of the eMac(which is basically just a machine to get OS X), all other apple hardware has some definite selling points.
A portion of
The iMac has a small form factor, it is very quiet(key among recording studios), and it is sleek, stylish, and dare I say almost sexy. Currently the iMac is a horrible deal, but I would bet on a performance boost and/or price drop beforre back to school season this year.
And I'm not going to start a G5 vs. AMD vs. Intel flamewar, but there are people who believe that the powermacs give the most bang for the buck(but then there are people who disagree, you make your own conclusions)
So Apple hardware(outside of the eMac of course) isn't all that bad. If you are going on pure performance per dollar then maybe it doesn't look great, but keep in mind people have a lot of different needs for their computers.