Sun Lashes Out at Microsoft, Others Over Spec
by Esther Schindler
Clint Boulton of internetnews.com has this story:
In another indication that high-tech powers are not always on the same page where Web services are concerned, Sun Microsystems this week blasted Microsoft, IBM, BEA Systems and TIBCO for publishing their own specification for Web Services reliability.Sun, along with Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Oracle, Sonic Software, published a Web Services Reliability (WS-Reliability) specification in January 2003. Microsoft, IBM, BEA and TIBCO this week published the WS-ReliableMessaging specification, which analysts say is different, but equally important.
Despite the fact that the specs work to meet the same end -- proper message delivery -- Sun is incensed about the overlap and different approach, which it said will drive a wedge in an industry already fraught with uncertainty and tentativeness.
In a public statement, Sun said: "The announcement by Microsoft, IBM, BEA and TIBCO regarding the publication of two new specifications stands in stark contrast to Sun's philosophy and the larger industry need for standards convergence among vendors in this space." The Santa Clara, Calif.-based firm went so far as to call IBM and Microsoft a "disruptive force" that has "now moved away from a leadership position in Web services standards."
