A Passionate Plea for DDE on Mac at Lotusphere2011

Bill Malchisky  February 14 2011 04:29:12 PM

One of the sessions I attended on Day 2 (Day 1 for coders), was the INV107 - Application Development Strategy. The session covered the application development trend line with Brent Peters listed, but he was unable to attend on the session. The best part, in my estimation, came during the Q&A period.

I looked to my left at the end of the row next to the microphone a passionate man holding his Mac Book Pro laptop high in his extended right hand, all while making a great point. This man was Bill Buchan and with his explicit permission, I include him in this piece. He gave a spirited delivery on the reasons why IBM Software needs to port Designer over to Mac and Linux. His points were heartfelt and well substantiated.

He decried that the kids today really needed to see their chosen tools on "cool operating systems like Mac and Linux." Kids don't want to use Windows--it's boring. They want open source friendly operating environments. The two IBMers on the stage listened intently. Bill ended his remarks with one of the best lines I've heard in my 13 Lotusphere events, "If you don't port Designer over to Mac, and rather keep it on Windows, then the only people who will use it are old people like you and me." Brilliant. The applause Bill received was astounding. People rose from their seats in the areas that I observed, and clapped with zeal.

The IBM response was typical and had I chose to pull-out the Ask the Product Manager BINGO boards I printed, I would have been able to clear a few sheets with just the rhetoric in their response to Bill's query. Quite amazing how they danced around this one piece obviously omitted from their presentation. The most common excuse or justification --- depending upon your perspective --- was that "It's just a lower priority for us." IBM stated this three times in the same response. "Lower priority." That says it all, quite honestly.

The two guys on the stage really wanted to provide a more substantiative response, but lacked the knowledge to do so. I felt for them, as management's decisions forced them on the receiving end of a full audience showing of discontent with the IBM refusal to port something we know is vital. Having stated that, the refusal to see the problem and address it was so lucid to me, that the perceived apathetic droning soon became too much for me. My thinking is that if the key barrier within IBM is a lower priority, then fix that. In a moment that I can only attribute to pure stress management, I shouted, "Make it a priority!" I doubt they heard me, but it certainly felt better.

Everything you wanted to know about Domino Designer on Eclipse (DDE), its future, and support on both sides revealed itself in one passionate plea from a seasoned and respected developer.

Bill gets it. Many in the community get it. Sadly, on this point, IBM does not.

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