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E V E N T S
Save the date: 2nd Global db4o User Conference 2007 (dUC)
July, 9 and 10 - Fort Mason - San Francisco, CA, United States
K U D O O F T H E M O N T H
"Wow! Coming from the World of Win32 using Delphi with standard RDBMS's to .NET with db4o is like taking a shower after you've been climbing your way out of a desert for a week or so!"
--Robert Meek, 1/8/2007
A R T I C L E S
-- VERSION 6.1 IN PRODUCTION, SOON STABLE STATUS --
Version 6 has now achieved production-ready status with its 6.1 release, available for immediate download from db4o's website. This version is recommended for product development and expected to be declared stable, i.e., ready for shipment, within the next few weeks.
The 6.1.102 release is a result of focused work on bug fixing and stability enhancements with no notable new features. A complete list is available in the Jira issue tracking system.
This release also includes a major refactoring of the class names inside db4o core to improve code readability and to make it easier for new developers to understand and get involved. You can view all of the renaming changes in the product development wiki.
The stable status of version 6.1 precedes an upcoming major and breaking change planned for version 6.2. Starting with this version and developing over subsequent versions, db4o will handle errors more gracefully by throwing exceptions for a wider range of error conditions. As a result, developers can and should implement the appropriate code in their applications to handle formerly uncaught db4o exceptions. db4objects will provide migration documentation and a backwards compatibility option once the changes are released to production.
-- db4o PROJECT GETS A STEERING COMMITTEE --
Reflecting the tremendous growth of the 20,000 registered (and many more unregistered) developers strong db4o Community, the db4o Project has now instituted a Project Steering Committee (PSC) as defined at the db4o Developer Conference in Hong Kong.
The launching PSC team consists of Carl Rosenberger, Rodrigo de Oliveira, and Travis Reeder, who will define the PSC's work for future tenures, with an election scheduled for July, 2007 at the dUC in San Francisco. The mission of the PSC is to coordinate the db4o Project and the work of its contributors in such a fashion, that the product development follows a user-driven roadmap, while interfacing with the db4objects company to provide development funds and support and service offers for commercial customers.
More about the PSC can be found in the new db4o Project Guidelines.
-- NEW db4o WHITEPAPER ON GPL AND DUAL LICENSING --
db4objects' dual licensing model is fast becoming one of the most popular business models for software companies leveraging the power of both open- and closed-source software development. db4objects has now released a new white paper titled "db4objects and the Dual Licensing Model", which is available for free and immediate download from here.
The white paper explains the factors one should consider when deciding whether to license software under GPL (free) or commercial (fee-based) terms, along with the obligations associated with either choice. It is important for businesses to understand how to leverage this model, without jeopardizing their intellectual property rights or risking the negative publicity that results from violating open source licenses.
The author, Heather Meeker, is an attorney at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, an international law firm in Silicon Valley. Ms. Meeker is the co-chair of the Open Source Software subcommittee of the Science and Technology Section of the American Bar Association, and an adviser to the American Law Institute's project on the law of software contracts.
-- db4o COMMERCIAL LICENSING AND PRICING CHANGES --
To simplify the purchase of db4o for commercial applications, db4objects has made it easier for you to acquire software licenses through the web. In addition, we have consolidated, simplified and published our standard pricing information.
For developers who may need only a single or small number of db4o licenses, db4objects has added the option to purchase using your credit card and a web/fax order form (simply enter your data and you'll receive the order form per mail if you qualify). These smaller license purchases no longer require a dDN membership. [Of course, db4objects strongly recommends that you maintain a dDN membership to benefit from software upgrades and 24-hour technical support.]
For developers who are shipping larger quantities of licenses and who wish to benefit from volume purchase agreements, you now have an easier way to receive a customized quotation from one of our account managers using our new web inquiry form.
db4objects is also introducing a new price for a db4o Micro license to run on either J2ME or .NET Compact Framework platforms. With pricing as low as $1 in volume quantities (90,000 units or more), db4o Micro provides a cost effective, high performance database for handheld devices and other embedded systems. Minimum order quantities for db4o Micro start at 1,000 units.
-- TED NEWARD's "VIETNAM" AND RICK GREHAN ON ODBMS.ORG --
The release of Ted Neward's acclaimed article "The Vietnam of Computer Science" and Rick Grehan's Classics "When to Use an ODBMS" and "ODBMS for RDBMS Users" provide a good reason to have a look at ODBMS.ORG, the portal for education and research on object database technology.
Ted Neward's analysis of the O/R impedance mismatch is one in the latest contributions that put the revived popularity of object databases in the context of the object-relational discussion and the growth of object-relational mappers like Hibernate in particular.
More about those recent releases here.
ODBMS.ORG is a vendor-independent, not-for-profit educational program on object database technology and the integration between object-oriented programming and databases. Designed by Prof. Roberto Zicari of Frankfurt University, the program's goal is to promote and further the use of object databases - by offering free resources for students, faculty and researchers at universities and research centers, as well as for JAVA and .NET developers in the commercial and the open source world. Content is provided by a panel of 80 internationally recognized experts, who share research articles and teaching materials with the community via the organization's Web portal.
-- CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AT db4objects --
db4objects has reached an important phase of growth as our global user community deploys db4o in an ever-expanding range of applications, from handhelds to aircraft. We are actively looking for qualified candidates to join our team in the following roles:
If you are interested in joining a fun, challenging, and dynamic open source company (or of you know of some else who might be interested) and live somewhere on this planet with a decent Internet connection, don't hesitate to apply - go and find out more at the db4objects career pages.
L O O K I N G I N T O T H E M I R R O R
Selected press coverage about db4o since the last newsletter:
"Die Neuerungen der Objektdatenbank db4o 6.0"
dot.net Magazin, March 2007, by Stefan Edlich (In German)
"db4objects' Open Source Philosophy Drives Recruitment"
TechCareers, February 12, 2007, by Judy Mottl
"Career Profile: CEO, db4objects"
TechCareers, February 7, 2007, by Judy Mottl
"Interview with Christof Wittig and Jerry Fiddler of db4objects"
Linux Journal, February 2007, by Nicholas Petreley
"db4o: una alternativa a la persistencia"
.code, February 2007, by Alan Lavintman, German Viscuso (In Spanish)
"OpenSource RIA solution- Openlaszlo & db4o"
Programmer Magazine, February 2007, by Rosen Jiang (In Chinese)
"Popular Object Database Expands Licensing Options"
The Jem Report, January 30, 2007, by Jem Matzan
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With best regards
The db4objects team.
www.db4o.com
newsletter@db4o.com
Phone +1 (650) 577-2340
1900 S Norfolk Street, Suite 350
San Mateo, CA 94403 (USA)