Slashdot Mirror
XAML Development Today, But Not From Microsoft
Paul Colton writes "My company, Xamlon, has just released its flagship product, also called Xamlon. It allows for XAML development on all supported Windows platform, from Win98 through Longhorn. We're also investigating Mono and Java as possible development targets. CNET recently wrote a story of our launch."
Of course, I could also be a cynic, considering Colton sold Live Software, he may be positioning his new venture for a buyout by Microsoft.
Ob Simpsons: OK, boys, buy him out! .. I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
One again, how much does one of the slashvertizements cost? I have some clients that would love to buy one but I am unable to get a price from you.
Please let me know so we can do business together!
My company, Xamlon, has just figured out a way to advertise its flagship product on Slashdot.
Yet Another Web Site
Having a flagship product named the same as the company name short-circuits this process for the clue-deficient. How many of has have heard their less-technically-literate people complain that their "Microsoft" crashed? (And of course, who among us would correct such an error, since it has such a nice ring to it...)
No Laughing Allowed!
Because it is a technical product that many technically minded people would care about...
Agile Artisans
or is there a category called "Ad"?
Build something usefull like a xul plugin for internet exploder.
Got Code?
Enough for the advertisement already. Create a section for that, unchecked by default.
CNET recently wrote a story of our launch
/.'ers) are much less likely to even *look* at the web site/article now... /. effect or not.
:(
Really now... have we sunk *that* low? We're cross-referencing slashvertisements with ad-articles from other news sites with commercial interests of their own?
No matter how good XAMLon is, I (and likely other
MMD (mod me down), but really, is this news? Or even news-worthy... If I tried segueing another post into such a schmalzy plug for my product the readership would MMD into next year.
So why does the inspired editorial staff think this is worthy of it's own post?
Editorial staff, if folk want to plug their crap on /. let em do it through the existing banner ads. Make 'em pay for the privelege.
Or maybe he did pay for the privelege...
"Talk minus action equals nothing" - Joey Shithead, D.O.A.
"Talk minus action equals
Avalon + XAML = Xamlon
Trademark infringement case in 3.. 2..
At least Lindows was only borrowing -dows from Microsoft. I'd hate to see what happens when you borrow both parts.
Uninnovate - Only the finest in engineering.
It is Nick Petreley's law of the computer press, but it also applies to mainstream IT acceptance. Things just don't catch on in the corporate world until Microsoft comes up with a shoddy implementation of the exact same technology.
We've had X11 around for years now, but you didn't really see network-transparent GUIs and thin-client computing with a GUI catch on until Microsoft Terminal Server came out.
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
I'll probably get modded as flaming, but...
If it's a tool that will help developers working in XML it shuold be promoted.
If you don't wnat to read it, then don't.
Nobody's forcing you.
$30 Off All Plans: Use code TRIPLESAWBUCK
It's also not obvious from the article if XAML is cross browser capable. Does it spit out web standards based HTML/XHTML or whatever or does it use an IE only browser plugin? They say it only supports IE on windows platforms but they're looking at Mono and Linux. Does this mean the development tool only runs on windows or that XAML will only ever run on IE?
Why post a story to Slashdot about your own product or service? That is what the millions of Slashdotters around the net are for. It's hard enough for one of us to get a story posted... now we have to compete with the source?
Amen brotha! Give me distorted third and fourth hand information any day. Slashdot is going to hell in a handbasket...now they're posting articles from the sources. What's next, original news content? Man I can barely tolerate original book and movie reviews. Perish the thought...
Either you were trying to be funny (I find the statement above in particular amusing), or you aren't in the journalism business. Generally, readers prefer information from "the source". I hate to break it to you, but a large part of "journalism" is driven by press releases. Over half of the content of typical magazines and newspapers is of the nature of this article.
I can also say you're not a struggling self-employed tech professional if you think Xamlon is going about it's promotion the wrong way. This guy managed to get column inches on two huge websites for next to nothing. I'd say they've made a promotional coup!
Yes, it is a shameless plug. However it seems to me that in marketing you have to check your pride at the door and plug away. At least this poster isn't like some others and included more than just links to his own site. Beyond that, regardless of the source of the information, it is a very intriguing development. A brash upstart was able to implement behemoth Microsoft's specs before Microsoft itself does? That sure takes the wind out of Longhorn's sales if you ask me. The possibility/likelyhood of it running on Linux/MONO floors me...that would be awesome! To think that it could technically be possible to make Longhorn-compatible apps that run on Linux before Longhorn is even released...amazing.
You DO bring up a very important question though:
Doesn't that open your company up for lawsuits?
What do the license agreements attached to Microsoft's specs say about this? I remember rumblings about not being able to implement them without Microsoft's blessing, or the possibility that MS has/plans to incumber the license to such specs with restrictions forbidding their use in GPL/LGPL implementations. OTOH, Mono is a GPL/LGPL implementation of a MS spec and they have not faced legal challenges. This could be because the CLR and C# have been submitted to standards organisations. If MS is trying to maintain good will in the community and wants to make XAML an official standard then they may not be able to prevent others from implementing their specs. Does anyone out hter know the real legal situation here?
"If you want to do the world a favor, try to spread Mozilla's XUL around."
I'm pretty sure the point of this guy's company isn't to do the world a favor, but rather to do his bank account a favor. With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense why he'd be aligning himself with M$. I don't think XUL will be generating any IPOs in the near future...
So many people are complaining about this being a slashvertisement. When there was a story about Yellow Dog 4 coming out no one complained. Or the distro with the swahili name. If announcing new software or new versions is so horrible why isn't everybody up in arms about the freshmeat section on the front page?
If you really feel that FOSS is the better answer and that FOSS projects can compete solely on their merits then equal exposure is not only fair, it is critical to proving that. If someone posts about a proprietary project, rather than whine about it, point out which FOSS solution does the job better. If one doesn't exist, write it. Or if you can't do those things and you think that the proprietary software in question sucks, post a review of it. Do something constructive.
This is really some brilliant work. Paul saw an opportunity to take what will become a defacto standard when Longhorn is shipped (or shortly thereafter) and beat Microsoft to the punch. This is a great way for big companies to play with big giants like MS, and take advantage of their slow development times for huge projects.
XUL is a great idea, but it will never catch on unless a GUI designer is created. Hand coding UI xml sucks, hand coding UI rdf+xml is approximately as anal retentive as pointalism. XAML is noticably less verbose than XUL and I can almost guarantee that there will be a nice GUI designer for it.
No, XAML is not better than XUL, XUL is badass tech, but the outlook for its adoption is bleak at the moment. A nice GUI designer and pyXPCOM could fix that though.
Why are you nitpicking? For one thing, the non-pluralization... why give the guy a hard time about a typo? I mean, at least one person (timothy) had to retype (or at least cut-and-paste) the story. He could have fixed that.
Now, this is a product aimed at developers, and the story is on Slashdot. I think it's a pretty safe assumption that anyone who is in either (or both) of those crowds *probably* knows whether their platform is in the subset of Win98-Longhorn. *I* certainly understood it; I'm sorry if *you* had trouble.
And...
FTA: Xamlon built the program from the published technical specifications of Microsoft's own user interface development software, which Microsoft itself doesn't plan to release until 2006.
Doesn't that open your company up for lawsuits? (IANAL)
He said he built it from technical specifications, which were published, of software that's not released yet. AFAIK, that's legal... it'd be (somewhat) like developing an FTP server from reading the applicable RFC, then having Microsoft sue you because it infringes on IIS... which is not to say that that sort of situation is completely farfetched, but...
Oh yes, CYA. IANAL. Always thought that sounded funny... I-ANAL. Nevermind.
Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions. It's the only way to mak