Happy Saturday

Saturday, August 24, 1996 by Dave Winer.

Good Morning!

It's a quiet Saturday, I have a bunch of details to get out of the way and I want to point you to an interesting new website.

Correction: Apple has shipped a Java Runtime 

I made a mistake in yesterday's DaveNet, Macarena!, when I said that only Sun's Runtime could run standalone Java apps on the Mac.

I didn't know that Apple had shipped a beta of their Java Runtime. It's available at http://www.devtools.apple.com/mrj/.

My apologies to Apple for not being aware that they had shipped this. I'll be checking it out and reporting on its capabilities.

Correction: Kaczynski is accused 

In Diggin The Times, 8/19/96, I made a beginner's mistake -- I referred to Ted Kaczynski as the Unabomber, but this isn't fair. In the US legal system you are innocent until proven guilty. So the only statement I can make, or anyone else for that matter, is that Kaczynski is accused of being the Unabomber. It hasn't been proven. This is an important distinction.

We're no closer to knowing how TWA 800 was destroyed. A conclusion (a bomb!) made the front page of the Times yesterday, with a major headline, but today the investigators have said that they still don't know how it happened.

Good vibes on going to Windows 

I've gotten a lot of thanks and congratulations for deciding to invest in moving our web and net tools to Windows. Most came from people who are already using our Mac stuff, who believe it will be easier, politically, to deploy and build on our stuff if a Windows version is available.

I was also pleased with the reception from members of the PC press. What a difference! It's true that Microsoft plays in some of the areas we will be entering, but it also seems that the Windows market is more open to stuff coming from others.

People may claim that Microsoft is a more aggressive competitor (Apple is pretty aggressive!), but the market may have corrected for that better in the Windows world.

I heard from a bunch of the troops, but heard nothing from execs of either Microsoft or Apple. Here's an interesting common ground for these two companies to collaborate. I offer Frontier as a place where their worlds can meet and connect. A cross-platform Frontier could be a very interesting place. Both Apple and Microsoft could help this happen. I'll work with anyone as long as we can win.

Wanting Netscape to Win 

Another clarification -- I said in yesterday's piece that I wanted Netscape to win. I said it twice. This doesn't mean that I want Microsoft to lose. Let's look for win-wins. I hope there is a way for us to have both Microsoft and Netscape making contributions to the web world. I believe a balance serves the interests of developers and users.

With $7 billion in the bank, it's pretty clear that Microsoft isn't going away anytime soon. But Netscape isn't as strong. If you value independence, I think you have to want Netscape to be present in this market for the forseeable future. My opinion, of course.

A question from Gates 

As this piece was going to press (so to speak) I got an email from Bill Gates, billg@microsoft.com. He said "I think the readers of your electronic newsletter would be interested to know a little bit about the other subscribers - how many are there? How has that changed over time? What kind of people are reading? Do a lot send you feedback?"

Quickly, with more details to come later, the number of readers varies widely. Some pieces travel much further than others, are picked up by other mailing lists. For example, The Compaq of ISPs went *very* far, I could tell, because the responses were very diverse. It hit a nerve.

There's a list server at www.hotwired.com that people can subscribe to. The HotWired folks have been very kind in letting me continue to use that server, even though I no longer write for them.

I get a lot of email. Some pieces more than others. Until my "BBS" went on the air, I was forwarding the most interesting comments to the "DaveNet Mail" website. I think I'll start doing that again. There are some interesting messages in that site. The BBS is starting to catch on too. I hope people take advantage. DaveNet is now two-way. Please give it a look, and don't be afraid to say something.

One more thing, the combination of email and the web is very powerful. I see lots of other software providers moving in this direction. I could see how well these things worked a couple of years ago. I'm going to keep moving, trying out new technology, and doing a few new websites, extending out from where DaveNet is now. Still diggin! (And having fun.)

Finally, I see DaveNet as a combination of software and opinion. Both aspects drive each other. No time to write more about this, at this time...

The sucksters strike again 

A new interesting website from the people who brought you www.suck.com. It's at http://www.placing.com/. Think of it as interactive suck. What does the name mean? Win, place and show.

The products and ideas they showcase aren't the winners. To be at placing.com, you just have to place. OK. It's funny! (Of course.) They're cynics, that's OK. It's interesting, I plan to watch it, maybe even contribute a limerick or too.

That's it. Happy Saturday, keep digging, and let's have fun!

Dave