Re: OT: Religion in CLC posts WAS: Re: MF Collection Class speed

From: Warren Simmons (wsimmons5_at_optonline.net)
Date: 02/27/05 

Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 20:59:50 -0500

Richard,

 From my perspective, I can not say who was responsible for the formation
of CODASYL. However, I have first hand knowledge of the process. While
Uncle Sam participated in an important way, some large companies, who as
a group represented the potential users to the public, arranged to make
Grace's tool available.

Yet, I am certain that a much larger group of companies participated at
a higher level.

The existence of major changes to our way of life do not all begin the
way CODASYL did, but one way or another, it happens in our world, and
will continue to happen so long as people are involved.

Warren Simmons

Richard wrote:

>>I still find the fact that a group of people could sit down in 1959
>
> and
>
>>altruistically pool their experience and even some of their tools,
>
> for the
>
>>greater good, inspirational. It wouldn't happen now.
>
>
> Where have you been for the last few years ? Certainly through the 80s
> and most of the 90s the prevailing model was the proprietry development
> of software driven mainly by profit motive. Eventually this was
> dominated by one company that had the power to decide who would be
> winners and who would be losers (by being purchased, assimilated, or
> simply excluded from the marketplace). Actually this is still
> happening.
> > The reaction to this was to evolve a model that could not be
> assimilated, bought, or squashed. That could not be excluded.
>
> Your quote above describes exactly dozens or hundreds of projects which
> are continuing with or without industry support.
>
> In fact with Cobol it wasn't for 'the greater good', it was so the
> companies involved that were paying the bills, could obtain contracts
> from the DoD.
>
>