[3259] in java-interest
Re: Blackbird, JavaBASIC, JavaPascal
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (BC Krishna)
Sun Nov 5 14:10:08 1995
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 1995 12:19:06 -0500
To: ALEXANDE J KERR <CS9H4KAJ@swansea.ac.uk>, java-interest@java.sun.com
From: BC Krishna <bc@futuretense.com>
Cc: bc@futuretense.com
>Java is good because it's open and free. Blackbird won't
>be one little bit. Blackbird is appealing because it
>appears to the masses to provide a safe, fully supported
>environment with a safe, supported, and easy to use
>implementation language - Visual Basic.
>Java must come up with a way to combat Blackbird in these
>respects or we risk losing a significant amount of freedom
>to Microsoft.
>
Well, one of the things that we can start by doing is to get our collective
heads clear on what these various terms mean.
Mirosoft is pitching Blackbird as an end-to-end electronic publishing
solution, consisting of three elements: i) a proprietary, NT-based, content
server codenamed "Gibraltar", ii) an authoring system that enables content
developers to create Blackbird "titles" -- the authoring system includes a
WYSIWYG editor called Blackbird Word, and iii) the Blackbird viewer.
From what I've seen (all at the recently concluded Internet World in
Boston), here are some observations:
- Gibraltar shares many characteristics with an http based Brand-X
Web server, but is apparently not one.
- Blackbird Word is principally used for editing and marking up text
content in an electronic publication. As the name indicates, it is
a derivative of Word.
- the text markup produced by Blackbird Word is encoded in SGML, using
a DTD that appears to be defined by Microsoft exclusively for Blackbird.
Blackbird documents have the ".bdf" extension.
- Blackbird content has a new mime type associated with it, so that
Brand-X browsers can automatically launch the Blackbird viewer as a
helper app.
The whole Blackbird architecture will have an extension mechanism -- OLE
objects -- to enable content providers to package specific look, feel and
behavior along with the content. So, in the case of the ubiquitous stock
ticker example, the vendor of the ticker data will also provide a
downloadable OLE object that can be plugged into a (Blackbird) viewer.
Evidently it is in this specific context (downloadable objects) that there
is some overlap between the two approaches. Other than that, Blackbird is a
proprietary, Microsoft-only solution to the needs of electronic publishers.
In order to deliver this solution, Microsoft has chosen to develop and
implement all the underlying technology as well: server, protocol, file
format, and browser. Perhaps the only thing that is common between their
approach and everybody else's is TCP/IP.
I suppose the bet here is that Blackbird is a focal point for the
development of the technology and product for a market that clearly needs
it. Is that all Microsoft is after? Or is it a lever with which to foist a
proprietary solution on the unsuspecting world?
Comments?
cheers, bc
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