Fwd: Is there a need for OpenLDAP?

[Jim Willeke <jim@willeke.com>]

-------- Original Message --------

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DAVE KEARNS 
on DIRECTORIES  
06/13/01 - Today's focus: Is there a need for OpenLDAP? 
In this issue:

* What is OpenLDAP and what are its benefits?
* Links related to Directory Services
* Featured reader resource

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Today's focus: Is there a need for OpenLDAP?

By Dave Kearns 

Readers of my Wired Windows column in Network World know that 
I'm not a big fan of the open source movement - at least as far 
as commercial-grade software is concerned. For that reason, I 
haven't paid much attention to Open Lightweight Directory 
Access Protocol (LDAP) - (http://nww1.com/go11/0611DSV2A.html), 
the open source directory service. 

Of course, there's also the fact that OpenLDAP defines itself 
as "...an open source implementation of the Lightweight 
Directory Access Protocol." Last time I looked, LDAP was 
defined in a series of Internet Engineering Task Force Requests 
for Comment (IETF RFCs), which is about as "open" (that is, 
its published for all to use freely) as you can get!

OpenLDAP.org is run by something called the OpenLDAP 
Foundation, a non-profit organization which is evidently 
designed to solicit donations for itself. I would like to speak 
to any of the officers of the foundation but, curiously, they 
aren't listed anywhere on the Web that I could find. They 
appear also to not have telephone numbers, although there is a 
mailing address (in Redwood Shores, CA - also the home of 
Oracle. Coincidence?).

Most of the OpenLDAP project is either taken directly from, or 
derived from on-going work at the University of Michigan (where 
LDAP originated). The SLAPD (LDAP daemon) and SLURPD (LDAP 
update daemon) servers are almost direct ports of work from 
Michigan. There's nothing wrong with that as it is in the 
public domain. But there's little evidence of much new 
development from the OpenLDAP group.

OpenLDAP did fill a need for an easily obtainable, LDAP-enabled 
directory service with a low entry price (it's free - but you 
had to compile the source code). Shoestring funded start-ups in 
the directory-enabled applications business could use it for 
building and testing their software, and even recommend it to 
clients who didn't have an installed directory service (or 
didn't know they had one). Now that Novell is giving away 
eDirectory to independent software vendors and Active Directory 
is included with Windows 2000 servers, those reasons go away. 

Since the initial reasons for the OpenLDAP project no longer 
exist, I'd like to suggest a change. Let's forget about 
duplicating commercial efforts to create data repositories and 
directory services. Instead, let's focus on creating directory-
enabled applications that leverage the installed base of LDAP-
enabled directory services. Give users some concrete 
applications that make use of the authentication, authorization 
and personalization mechanisms the directory makes available. 
That would be a public service.

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To contact Dave Kearns:

Dave Kearns is the Word Wrangler for Virtual Quill, a writing 
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mailto:info@vquill.com.
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RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

Breaking directory news from Network World, updated daily: 
http://nww1.com/go11/0611DSV2B.html

Archive of the Directory Services newsletter:
http://nww1.com/go11/0611DSV2C.html
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This message was sent to:  JIM@WILLEKE.COM




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Jim Willeke <mailto:jim@willeke.com>