DCE 1.2.2 released under LGPL license (strategically important for Wine)

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

> If we need to extend it later using code from FreeDCE may be
> possible, but right now we :

> a) Don't know of *any* pure DCE-RPC applications people want to run

 you _are_ aware that REGEDT32, USRMGR.EXE, SRVMGR.EXE and
 most of the NT 4.0 Control Panel components are actually
 DCE/RPC programs?

 see, your point is _exactly_ the problem !  there aren't
 any dce-rpc applications in a strict interpretation of what
 you say, because dce-rpc is middleware: it's a communicator,
 an intermediary, and it absolutely xxxx-all use on its own
 [imagine trying to sell ONC/RPC's portmap as a stand-alone
 application]

 and there is another less-strict and more subtle interpretation
 of your statement.

 when people run mozilla, they know it, they see it, it's in-their-face.
 when they run a win32 program, they know it, they see it, it "happens".

 that DCE-RPC is "middleware" of the highest order (and as
 such is completely invisible) is _exactly_ the problem:
 people do not even _know_ it's there!

 so you and everyone in the free software community can be
 forgiven for not being aware of any dce-rpc applications that
 people want to run.


 like i said in my advogato article 817, dce-rpc is like the Boss 13L V10
 engine that Ford put in their 1994 Ford Mustang Cobra "Concept Car":
 it's capable of producing wheel-spin in 4th gear all the way up to
 110mph (i've seen the video!!!)

 ... yet an engine is xxxx-all use without a car.

 ... would you build a car with the engine integrated into the chassis??

 no, of course not, because you would have seen enough examples of cars
 to know that that would produce a nightmare design and maintenance
 headache.

 ... if you were _given_ a suitable engine for free, would
 you look at ways of finding engine-mounts and gearbox adaptors?

 i realise that the answer to _that_ depends on how far down
 the road you had got in building your kit car....


 so, to recap the analogy:

 * FreeDCE is the engine

 * DCOM is the after-market supercharger or Turbocharger, exhaust,
   mod chip, disk brakes and alloy wheels, and the Pi Research
   Telemetry equipment, all of which makes it essential for
   you to qualify for - and win - certain kinds of races.

 * NTLMSSP and "Named Pipes" are the gearbox.

 * Win32 applications are the chassis

 * The Win32 GUI is the steering wheel, seat and pedals.

 
 ... unless it was electric, you wouldn't build a car without those
 components, would you?

 l.


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