What a few of us discovered was the parallel universes we live in as it pertains to the niche dog-eat-dog MLS world and everything else…system high, MSL. Despite a noble effort in 2004 to rally proven MLS players to come together and propose an MLS consortium to demonstrate how multiple MLS providers could drop their intellectual barriers to some degree and prove how their systems could interoperate, the high-spirited system-high and MLS marketeers with their overglamorized improvements for cross-domain info sharing deafened the scene and prevented the MLS consortium from being heard by key CIOs.

Now three years later and we still find it interesting that MLS competitors don’t get it, as presented by the few internet returns on MLS keyword search tonight. While the few MLS competitors continue to compare goods in the small MLS market, they’re seemingly not seeing the opportunity before to join forces and take rightful claim of the shared information space screaming for MLS-enabled functionality and interoperability. While the system high providers will always have a lions share of government and commercial information space, their turf should be constrained to the non-shared workspaces and workspaces that don’t have to manage and exchange disparate levels of information controls.

As we had hoped to kick-off the MLS consortium in 2004, perhaps MLS players can regroup and form a team to demonstrate their potential as a force multiplier and take a stake in enabling government and others via a non-system-high shared information space. At the same time, this multi-provider MLS capability could also prove how it can interoperate with system-high information spaces.

Until this potential can be realized, MLS providers will have to settle for competing among themselves for a market that pales in comparison to the broader market that has no other choice than to accept system-high MSL solutions, as so-called information sharing revelations…due to no MLS consortium stepping up to the plate.

So for everyone interested in trusted solutions, please consider the prospects of joining forces to truly revolutionize information sharing capabilities for the government and commercial sectors. We know it’s not happening because we have to continually send information to ourselves on three different systems everyday to share information with others in system-high vacuums. And no matter how any one MLS provider is, no CIO will accept and employ a single solution.

If anyone is interested in understanding the MLS consortium momentum we had achieved in 2004, or is aware of any similar activity going on today, please consider dropping me a line at jeffreyi1@cox.net

Sincerely,
Jeff

Thanks for commenting on my blog. I will note, however, that you never said what wasn’t fair or accurate and what was misinformation. If you want to talk about diatribe perhaps you should look at what you write, how emotional and lacking in technical content and then ask yourself who is going to seem more credible. I have been a well respected open source developer for many years, what have you done?

I will also note that I explicitly said that “(This is my understanding of Trusted Extensions, please correct me if I’m wrong)”, there is no maliciousness here, like you seem to believe (or want others to believe for that matter..).

And one last thing, it would be much easier to give a “fair and accurate” analysis of Trusted Extensions if it was actually available. Alas, it is not and so I wrote the blog to the best of my understanding (as far as I could tell I have a far better understanding than either you or the author of the “open letter” I was responding to).

I’ll suggest that in the future if you are truly interested in helping the open source community that you will be more constructive and less abrasive, emotional, trite and rude.

Thank you once again.

As far as Glenn’s response. I am not going to counter-respond, I will let my readers (and his for that matter..) read the articles and decide on their own. I will note that none of what I said was technically inaccurate, Glenn just doesn’t believe that the inadequacies are as serious as I do.