Who's on first?

[Uche Ogbuji <uche.ogbuji@fourthought.com>]

> > > The site is about GoXML.com which was the first true contextual XML
> Search
> > > Engine on the web in 1999.  The current version,  3.0 just released,
> can
> > > build indexes of up to 2 terrabytes in size and provide very quick
> context
> > > based results.
> >
> > Not to be picky, but quite a number of systems offered full structural
> > indexing of SGML/XML documents, well before 1999. The first public version
> > of DynaWeb appeared in late 1994/1995 and has always supported full
> > structural queries. OpenText had some pretty good stuff around then too,
> > and from memory MTSGMLQL (or somesuch) was also available. I remember also
> > VODAK and a few other systems.
> >
> > GoXML was by no means the first.
> >>>>>>>>>>
>
> I didn't know that XML was around in 1994-5.  I believe that XML became
a
> standard around 1998 therefore the claim stands .
>
> GoXML.com is and was the first true contextual XML Search engine deployed on
> the internet

I think it's pretty dodgy to claim that a DBMS that does structural
SGML indexing cannot be considered an XML database, so I must
say you don't come off very well with this stubborn GoXML cheerleading.
Given the subjectiveness of any of these "first database" claims, why
don't you just drop the matter and work on making GoXML the best XML
DBMS?  You won't win the "first" battle by a long shot, and it probably
shouldn't matter to you that you won't.

The reason this annoyed me enough to even respond is my experience with
Information Architects who pull the same nonsense.  They have the
temerity to send me spam hailing IA as the "first commercial RDF
database".  Rather galling when I personally co-developed 4RDF, an RDF
DBMS that we have used commercially and that predates IA by months.

I haven't bitten and sent them the tirade they deserve, but I'd rather not
see such posturing on XML-DEV.

Amusing aside: once, some guy on IS's yahoo investor forum posted one of
my articles as a good introduction to RDF.  All of a sudden I started
receiving messages by the dozen asking me if I knew about IA and what I
thought of their product and worthiness of investment.

At first I thought it was more outrageous spam from IA until one of the
prospective investors gave me the gist.  I actually restrained myself from
trashing IA's shoddy claims and decided just to tell the investment
clubbers that I personally thought that RDF technology is a good
bet.  Of course I also warned them that they'd do well to take investment
advice from a rabid communist before they asked me.


-- 
Uche Ogbuji                               Principal Consultant
uche.ogbuji@fourthought.com               +1 303 583 9900 x 101
Fourthought, Inc.                         http://Fourthought.com
4735 East Walnut St, Ste. C, Boulder, CO 80301-2537, USA
Software-engineering, knowledge-management, XML, CORBA, Linux, Python