Enhydra moves out into open seas of Open Source

Freeware Web app server gets shifted into total public development by Lutris

The Open Source movement in software development will be taking another step toward helping the HP e3000 thrive, because Lutris Corp. is floating its resources away from Enhydra software, giving it away to independent development.

Enhydra, the Web application server named after a California sea otter, is taking its first swim in the open waters of Open Source this fall. Lutris created the software with Java and pushed along its development in league with Open Source programmers, individuals who donate time to enhancing software like the Apache Web server and Samba file sharing utility.

Both Samba and Apache have made their way into the HP e3000 operating system tapes, after starting their lives as Open Source projects embraced by the 3000 community. Enhydra looks poised to do the same, now being included in the HP WebWise secure server package. Recent developments show that Enhydra needs the same Open Source embrace, because Lutris is taking clear steps toward more profitable projects, leaving Open Source efforts to continue enhancing Enhydra.

“Our hope was that over time we’d be able to stop supporting Enhydra,” said Lutris evangelist David Young, “and let the Open Source community start supporting it. We thought that was absolutely fair in return for an amazing number of companies who used it to build their products.

“The plan all along was to disengage as much as we could. Any Lutris employee can answer questions, but in terms of being a part of our daily work, the fact is we’re a small company of 80 people. Our focus is on the commercial products we’re building.”

Enhydra has been extensively promoted by HP’s e3000 division (CSY) for the past year as a solution to Web-enable MPE/iX programs. The software’s success at automated loom maker Lindauer-Dornier was part of several HP customer briefings in the last year. Mike Yawn, the Java expert in CSY, called the software “the killer app for Java on the 3000” at this year’s Solution Symposium.

The free cost of the software may have influenced e3000 customers to adopt it, given the relative novelty of Java use in the 3000 community. But unlike much free software, Enhydra had a future outlined by Lutris: The company told e3000 customers about plans to continue enhancing the freeware by incorporating J2EE standards, object-orientation rules in common use between enterprise-level Web projects. J2EE acts as a contract that an application server is going to provide a certain set of services, tangible evidence that an application will be able to interoperate easily with other Java apps.

But after months of negotiation with Sun Microsystems, owners of the J2EE license, Lutris had to give up its plans to put J2EE into the free, Open Source Enhydra. Instead, Lutris is now offering Lutris EAS, a $4,495-per-server product with licensed J2EE modules. While the company says it will continue to support Enhydra, it’s clearly moving on to its paid products.

“We believe that Enhydra is a stable platform that will serve the needs of many for years,” company officials stated on a Web page entitled “Enterprise Enhydra — RIP.” The fact the free software won’t get J2EE support Lutris was promising at HP 3000 meetings is something HP e3000 developers should know before taking on Enhydra, according to a 3000 Web developer.

“Folks who are considering using Enhydra should know these things before making an [application server] decision,” said Adam Dorritie of Easy Does It Technologies. “The product is now not going to be what it was originally supposed to be — a free J2EE server.”

J2EE may not be as important as some Web developers make it out to be, but Lutris’ Young said the standard is gaining a reputation of being something “nobody ever got fired for specifying, like IBM in hardware.” CSY’s Yawn is writing a book for Prentice Hall on J2EE as a personal project, and said that the standard might not be needed by as many companies as are adopting it.

“I’m really beginning to look at Java technology as a pyramid,” Yawn said, not speaking for CSY’s official strategy. “At the base, J2SE should be very broadly used, and I think we’ve been delivering enough capability and performance to enable that kind of broad, across-the-board usage of Java. In the middle are technologies such as Servlets, JavaServer Pages, and XML.

“At the top tier are the full-blown J2EE application servers. I don’t think there are going to be a lot of customers who need all this capability. But for those who do need it, it’s going to be an important piece of their overall IT infrastructure.”

More costly products than the Lutris offering make up the majority of J2EE options today: BEA’s Weblogic and IBM’s Websphere. HP has its own J2EE offering from Bluestone, a company it acquired early this year. The Bluestone software hasn’t been certified for the e3000. Some say two paid offerings for the 3000 are satisfying the current, limited need for J2EE.

HP e3000 managers and customers can turn to a non-Lutris alternative for J2EE support. Advanced Network Systems Inc. has been offering its Web/iX application server that’s J2EE certified free for development and non-commercial use. Commercial licenses cost $1,500 per system plus an ADBC Developer’s Kit license fee of $4,500, regardless of how many CPUs are installed on the e3000 box.

“Web/iX has JDBC and native access to IMAGE/SQL and runs completely on the HP e3000,” said Advanced Network’s David Thatcher. The software, written in Java, also runs on Unix and Linux platforms. The company developed the application server by partnering with Orion, coupling Orion’s application server with Advanced Network’s ADBC API. Thatcher notes that “Oracle9iAS uses these same containers as Web/iX. Web/iX is a great alternative to BEA WebLogic and IBM WebSphere without the huge price tag.”

Gavin Scott of Allegro Consultants, who led the Java special interest group meeting at this year’s SIG3000, believes J2EE support is something a company should be willing to pay for.

“At this point I don’t know that having a free J2EE on MPE is particularly valuable over having a good commercial offering,” he said. “People looking for a full-blown J2EE app server are probably in a position to pay money to get a good supported package, and probably aren’t interested in having the source code. Those looking to do something on the cheap may be happy without the full “EE” set of features — which means that standard Java plus freeware like the Apache Tomcat server may do everything they need.”

Scott sees Open Source as a better guarantee than many commercial alternatives, given the lengthy lifespan of applications in the HP 3000 environment.

“An Open Source product would be nice, since it would give you the opportunity to maintain it yourself if the vendor ever dropped the 3000 as a supported platform,” he said. The Open Source 3.1 version of Enhydra certified for MPE/iX “will evolve,” Lutris’ Young said. He added he’s confident the Open Source software has a long future before it. He’s writing a book about the Web application server, “and I as much as anybody want to see Enhydra have a long and fruitful life.”