OpenNTF Everywhere
You may not have noticed, but the last
month has been absolutely tremendous for OpenNTF.org. I haven't had
the opportunity to provide much fanfare, but a few weeks ago, I was privileged
to attend the annual Lotus Leadership Alliance conference in Harvard Square.
This event offers unparalleled access to the Lotus executive and engineering
leadership, and I was attending not as an employee of Lotus 911, but as
the Chairman of the Strategy Working Group for OpenNTF.org. This
was especially cool, because I didn't have to wear the "business partner"
hat, and could focus all my attention on Lotus' strategic vision as it
pertains to the development community as a whole. It was an intense
but strangely relaxing experience -- intense because it really is a mini-Lotusphere;
relaxing because it's just delightful to hear so much good work and enthusiasm
coming from IBM.
While at the event, OpenNTF was afforded some serious time and attention from Lotus management, including a very productive sit-down with VP of Development, Alistair Rennie, VP of Messaging & Collaboration, Kevin Cavanaugh, and my good friend and Lotus community legend, Ed Brill. I'm overjoyed to share that it was at this meeting that IBM suggested the creation of a Lotus Award for open source projects, specifically targeted at releases on OpenNTF.org. Needless to say, that feels like a great validation of the last 6 years, and it's marvelous that IBM is going to give recognition to the enormous contribution of project chefs.
Some other things I can disclose about the event...
1) Boston is absolutely gorgeous in late September. The weather was nice too.
2) Alistair Rennie issued a challenge in one session, and I managed to win a dollar from him. I'm having it framed.
3) I'm going to start referring to Kristen Lauria as the MIGHTY Kristen Lauria, as she has done the impossible.
4) As great as all the engineering revolutions coming from Lotus are, they still have much to learn about HOW Domino developers work. The difference between now and 6 years ago is that now when you tell them that, they break out pens and paper, lean forward, and ask you questions. This generates excellent results.
But that's not all that's exciting lately.
Thanks to the tireless work of the OpenNTF Technical Committee Chair Niklas Heidloff, IBM is releasing 8 core Domino templates to OpenNTF under the Apache license. I know what many of you are thinking: "yeah, so?" You may not realize that until now, THE single key project that made OpenNTF a success is now legitimate. For years, this template release operated under a "don't ask don't tell" policy that never guaranteed the right for it to continue. Now that question is put to bed.
The value contained in the other 7 templates is enormous. Many of them represent the pinnacle of Domino template engineering. And where they don't, we as a community now have free reign to show what's possible on the platform by improving them.
Niklas has also put together this marvelous video demonstration of recent OpenNTF projects that every Notes user on the planet should watch. It only takes a few minutes, and you'll be able to immediately see the value provided by the free downloads on the site.
Technical Committee spokesman Steve Castledine and Steering Committee chairman Vince Schuurman recently presented together at UKLUG. Steve has been instrumental in bringing Domino's use of OneUI up to par. This is, again, a really important step to broader reuse by OpenNTF projects, and I'm looking forward to Steve's forthcoming guidance on how best to use the UI kit.
I'm also thrilled to see that Declan Lynch has, as promised, released xTalk on the same day that 8.5.1 shipped. This is a fine Xpages application, and it's great to have Declan making new contributions as the Steering Committee was able to address many of his concerns about the site operation and policy.
A quick anecdote about IBM's commitment to OpenNTF.org: Lotus once again had a video production team set up to record testimonial interviews with customers and partners. I was late signing up for a time slot for this, and ended up getting my schedule shifted around a lot. As we approached the end of the conference, the only time left was at the very end of the day. Unfortunately, this slot was already booked. However, when IBM heard that I hadn't yet had a chance to shoot an interview, they delayed the booked interview and let me go first: "The testimonial from OpenNTF is important."
Why is this remarkable? The person who's interview was delayed was Lotus General Manager Bob Picciano. He sat in the waiting room because OpenNTF.org is a priority for Lotus. (and yes, I hurried!)
So a big thank you to IBM Lotus and to Bob Picciano specifically for inviting OpenNTF.org to the conference. And thank you to all the IBMers, Alliance members, and Technical Committee members who have been advancing our agenda forward with such vigor. Lots of moving parts have to come together to make this Alliance a success, and everyone involved has put forth a ton of energy.
In the coming months, we'll have several more major objectives. We still need to elect two new representatives to the Steering Committee. If you would like to be considered for this job, or if you'd like to be able to cast a vote, you need to join the Alliance as a member. So sign up NOW! It's easy, and as a member, you get to shape the future of the site.
We'll also be having our annual meeting at Lotusphere, so if you'll be in attendance in Orlando, you'll be welcome to participate.
While at the event, OpenNTF was afforded some serious time and attention from Lotus management, including a very productive sit-down with VP of Development, Alistair Rennie, VP of Messaging & Collaboration, Kevin Cavanaugh, and my good friend and Lotus community legend, Ed Brill. I'm overjoyed to share that it was at this meeting that IBM suggested the creation of a Lotus Award for open source projects, specifically targeted at releases on OpenNTF.org. Needless to say, that feels like a great validation of the last 6 years, and it's marvelous that IBM is going to give recognition to the enormous contribution of project chefs.
Some other things I can disclose about the event...
1) Boston is absolutely gorgeous in late September. The weather was nice too.
2) Alistair Rennie issued a challenge in one session, and I managed to win a dollar from him. I'm having it framed.
3) I'm going to start referring to Kristen Lauria as the MIGHTY Kristen Lauria, as she has done the impossible.
4) As great as all the engineering revolutions coming from Lotus are, they still have much to learn about HOW Domino developers work. The difference between now and 6 years ago is that now when you tell them that, they break out pens and paper, lean forward, and ask you questions. This generates excellent results.
But that's not all that's exciting lately.
Thanks to the tireless work of the OpenNTF Technical Committee Chair Niklas Heidloff, IBM is releasing 8 core Domino templates to OpenNTF under the Apache license. I know what many of you are thinking: "yeah, so?" You may not realize that until now, THE single key project that made OpenNTF a success is now legitimate. For years, this template release operated under a "don't ask don't tell" policy that never guaranteed the right for it to continue. Now that question is put to bed.
The value contained in the other 7 templates is enormous. Many of them represent the pinnacle of Domino template engineering. And where they don't, we as a community now have free reign to show what's possible on the platform by improving them.
Niklas has also put together this marvelous video demonstration of recent OpenNTF projects that every Notes user on the planet should watch. It only takes a few minutes, and you'll be able to immediately see the value provided by the free downloads on the site.
Technical Committee spokesman Steve Castledine and Steering Committee chairman Vince Schuurman recently presented together at UKLUG. Steve has been instrumental in bringing Domino's use of OneUI up to par. This is, again, a really important step to broader reuse by OpenNTF projects, and I'm looking forward to Steve's forthcoming guidance on how best to use the UI kit.
I'm also thrilled to see that Declan Lynch has, as promised, released xTalk on the same day that 8.5.1 shipped. This is a fine Xpages application, and it's great to have Declan making new contributions as the Steering Committee was able to address many of his concerns about the site operation and policy.
A quick anecdote about IBM's commitment to OpenNTF.org: Lotus once again had a video production team set up to record testimonial interviews with customers and partners. I was late signing up for a time slot for this, and ended up getting my schedule shifted around a lot. As we approached the end of the conference, the only time left was at the very end of the day. Unfortunately, this slot was already booked. However, when IBM heard that I hadn't yet had a chance to shoot an interview, they delayed the booked interview and let me go first: "The testimonial from OpenNTF is important."
Why is this remarkable? The person who's interview was delayed was Lotus General Manager Bob Picciano. He sat in the waiting room because OpenNTF.org is a priority for Lotus. (and yes, I hurried!)
So a big thank you to IBM Lotus and to Bob Picciano specifically for inviting OpenNTF.org to the conference. And thank you to all the IBMers, Alliance members, and Technical Committee members who have been advancing our agenda forward with such vigor. Lots of moving parts have to come together to make this Alliance a success, and everyone involved has put forth a ton of energy.
In the coming months, we'll have several more major objectives. We still need to elect two new representatives to the Steering Committee. If you would like to be considered for this job, or if you'd like to be able to cast a vote, you need to join the Alliance as a member. So sign up NOW! It's easy, and as a member, you get to shape the future of the site.
We'll also be having our annual meeting at Lotusphere, so if you'll be in attendance in Orlando, you'll be welcome to participate.
Comments
I appreciate Bobb Picciano giving you his slot at the video but it looks like those kind of offers you can't refuse.
Posted by Null At 01:26:00 PM On 11/05/2009 | - Website - |
IBM contributes considerable resources to the operation of OpenNTF.org, as do the other members of the Steering Committee. But they have no more control than any other single member of the SC.
If you'd like to learn more about the structure of OpenNTF, you can find out here: { Link }
And if you'd like to see how the SC process works, you can find minutes and even conference call recordings on the OpenNTF blog here: { Link }
Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 11:25:29 AM On 11/09/2009 | - Website - |
They cleared some worries/misunderstandings.
Posted by null At 11:40:24 AM On 11/26/2009 | - Website - |