Oracle Database 10g for free

After Microsoft released SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, which is a free to use and redistribute, Oracle has also gone ahead and announced the release of the Oracle Database 10g Express Edition. Beta versions for Linux and Windows are currently available for free download.

The limitations match that of SQL Server Express Edition exactly. It supports only a single CPU, 1GB of RAM and can contain 4GB of user data. It comes with a browser-based interface for managing the database and there's this nifty tutorial, complete with Flash animations (no less!), to get you started.

Well this size database seems good enough for smaller, more personalized applications. However, open source projects seem to tilt towards supporting MySQL and PostgreSQL. One reason is that these database systems are open source (and free) themselves and another being the fact that they're cross-platform (especially Linux support). But with Oracle now providing a free version (on Linux as well), I wonder if we'll see more of the smaller open source web and desktop applications supporting the Oracle database.

Windows XP Professional ships with IIS, MacOS X ships with Apache, Linux ships with the kitchen sink and now the major database vendors have free versions of their software. It seems like the time is coming for everyone to have their personal servers storing everything from their emails, IMs, browser history, identity etc. for easy access and cross-reference by any local desktop or browser application. Can I download the entire GMail web application along with my e-mails to my local server and use the offline version when I'm not connected?

Links

• Oracle Database 10g Express Edition
• Oracle Database XE Tutorial

C++ Builder 2006 announced

Borland has officially announced the C++ Builder 2006 product, due for release towards the end of the year 2005. Instead of a separate IDE like before, Borland is rolling out a single IDE, dubbed the Borland Developer Studio, which will play host to the Delphi, C++ and C# languages. C# will be .NET only, while C++ will be Win32 only. However using the Delphi language, you'll be able to target either runtime.

In my opinion, C++ Builder is the best C++ coding environment on Windows. So, if I had to write a C++ application on Windows only, I would never look anywhere else. It's one of those environments that you have to actually use to understand why it's better. Comparing it against Visual Studio or CodeWarrior etc doesn't really work because the way you attack problems in C++ Builder is quite different from most other environments. The fact that is uses C++ as the language is almost incidental - the real power lies elsewhere.

Using C++ as the language has the advantage of being able to use all the libraries that exist today including Boost, STL etc. The real power however is in the component model - VCL (visual component library), and the way components interact with and extend the IDE. Borland has mostly been focusing on this side of the functionality and has largely been ignoring the needs of large complex pieces of software. Well it seems the focus has shifted and along with some cool new VCL and IDE features, C++ Builder also gets enhanced build process management and a much more robust compiler and linker.

To see how the new C++ Builder looks and works, check out the following screencasts:

• Overview (build configurations and IDE features)
• Hello World (project management and a simple example)
• VCL database development

Links
C++ Builder 2006 Product Page

Identity 2.0

I saw a presentation on Identity 2.0 by Dick Hardt (founder & CEO, Sxip) at OSCON 2005, and I must say that it was quite interesting. Sxip is trying to provide a secure, on-demand and universal digital identity.

The problem with digital indentities today are that they are bound to a website or a group of websites that you visit and use. So for instance a single Yahoo login can get you into most of the Yahoo sites, but you can't use the same login/password to go shop on Amazon or check your Google mail. Your identity is tied down to these individual companies. Microsoft tried to make everyone use Passport as a universal single sign-on, but nobody liked it and it only worked in Microsoft's servers and software so it's fate was sealed as soon as they announced it.

Digital identities need to follow some of the basic laws of identity, which are as follows:

1. User Control and Consent
   Technical identity systems must only reveal information identifying a user with the user's consent.
2. Minimal Disclosure for a Constrained Use
   The solution that discloses the least amount of identifying information and best limits its use is the most stable long-term solution.
3. Justifiable Parties
   Digital identity systems must be designed so the disclosure of identifying information is limited to parties having a necessary and justifiable place in a given identity relationship.
4. Directed Identity
   A universal identity system must support both "omni-directional" identifiers for use by public entities and "unidirectional" identifiers for use by private entities, thus facilitating discovery while preventing unnecessary release of correlation handles.
5. Pluralism of Operators and Technologies
   A universal identity system must channel and enable the inter-working of multiple identity technologies run by multiple identity providers.
6. Human Integration
   The universal identity metasystem must define the human user to be a component of the distributed system integrated through unambiguous human-machine communication mechanisms offering protection against identity attacks.
7. Consistent Experience Across Contexts
   The unifying identity metasystem must guarantee its users a simple, consistent experience while enabling separation of contexts through multiple operators and technologies.

Digital identity today is an interesting problem that needs to be solved. Sxip is just one of the companies trying to solve the problem. Their presentation at OSCON gives you a fairly decent idea of the digital identity problem. The presentation style is also very interesting and makes it worth watching, so check it out!

Links

• Identity 2.0 presentation at OSCON 2005
• The Laws of Identity
• Sxip Identity