[Tilecache] WMS shootout, ESRI and ERDAS

[Bruce Foster]

Folks,

My eyes went wide open when someone said that ESRI and ERDAS are
participating in FOSS4G open WMS shootout or performance benchmarking.
Knowing these two companies for the last 15 years, I just couldnt
digest the fact. Well, things have changed ... thats what I thought.

Then someone in the list wrote that Erdas is not participating.. Ah..
there comes the truth, I thought.. things cant be so much different.
They can never tell you what the performance numbers but they have all
the energy to tell the world that they are the fastest on earth
(truly, thats what they claim). Thats like telling someone I have the
fastest car on earth but will not tell you at what speed it goes or
what millage it gives (in very very very tiny letters.. it say when
you fix a rocket engine!!!). They have the budget to fool people but
not to do the test and tell the numbers. Their WMS is not better than
anyone else.

Then our big brother, ESRI. I was hoping to see them at FOSS4G
presentation here. Just now my colleague said that ESRI dropped out
due to resource problem. Fantastic.. typical esri approach... take you
to a point where you cant do anything and drop the bomb shell. There
are 10,000 guys with that company and they have resource problem !!!!!
Their person Sakish wrote to the list that they will participate in
CCIP but not WMS.. how sweet. You want the fact? They saw the results
of Geoserver and Mapserver and realized that ArcGIS server cant come
close to that number.. so drop out... very simple... tell what every
you feel like.. because everyone in the gis community is dumb and
fool. They had installed the software to the machine, done
everything.. but when it comes to doing the actual test that takes
only 10 hrs in total.. they have resource problem !!!!!, thats after
seeing GS and MS number... not before that. If you want to be
competitive, then no company on earth has resource problem.


Folks, wake up.  If you see these guys, just shoot a point blank
question at them. Ask for the truth. All what we want is the
performance numbers, is this something difficult ? Dont we have the
the right to know the performance before investing money in the
software?

In most cases, we have the responsibility of recommending the software
for agencies .. why should one take the risk?


-- 
Bruce

NSW, Australia