It's sad
by Volker Weber
Groove Networks is obviously getting ready to release their third generation of the product. Hugh is talking about lots of features on his weblog, the hosting services will be upgraded at the weekend of the 17th. The company has been working on this rewrite for years. Looks like they are ready to jump now.
And I am so unexcited, that it's sad.
I had to think for a while to find out why I am so unexcited. And it somehow revolves around the fact that Groove is an island. And that island is now very distant. Three things are killing it for me:
1. It only runs on Windows.
2. It's a proprietary closed system.
3. You need to install a fat client.
All these things are necessary for Groove Networks. And I know that there are workarounds like "Web services" and PopG. I just can't get excited about workarounds. My world is different:
1. I work with Mac OS, Windows and Linux (in this order).
2. I like open systems.
3. I work with people who are not allowed to install software.
I believe in the power of collaboration. And email is simply not enough. So I would love to use a product like Groove. But I can't. Or I could, but I wouldn't.
Comments
Interesting quote from Ray:For both Mac and Linux, it's not a religious issue. When a customer says 'I have a big order and want to place it but I'll make it contingent on the availability of a Linux or Mac version' we'll be coding away.Hmmm... I imagine that would have to be one hell of an order!!
I am not convinced. I believe this statement is being made because he does not expect such an order. Would there be a customer, he would probably have to admit that technically they can't do it.
I don't blame Groove for being single platform. There are financial and political (not religious) reasons to go for Windows. I am merely explaining why it is not an option for me.
I asked them two years ago. We have a lot of engineers that use Macs for development and I couldn't see suggesting this product without a Mac client available. I was told by a guy at Grooove something to the effect of, "We sure would like to make a Mac client, but don't have the resources to do it. Keep asking."
It kind of sounds like they want someone to buy a client that doesn't exist, so they will have the money to build it. That's a tough sell.
I remember an interview with a senior Groove employee several years ago that involved a lot of swooning over programming to COM+ (of all things). It seems to me that they drank the Microsoft Kool-Aid just before Linux and OS X became practical desktop platforms.
Like Volker, I have installed Groove several times since it became available. Each time, I removed the software, for the following reasons:
No economical server integration for small projects (pricing just like Notes ver 1).
Flat views (nothing hierarchical) that limit amount of information you can practically manage.
Big, fat resource hog.
No OS X client.
I've used Groove several times. This software eats resource like there is no tomorrow. It's good for small teams to support some project work. I don't see a real market for Groove because it doesn't support open standards and it's closed system.
I agree with you. Groove is a terribly interesting product, something I'd like to work with. But I can't commit to software that is to totally intertwined with Windows.
100% agree @ volker.
