Dreaming of Dawn

Microsoft has put their new SQL Server Driver (for Microsoft SQL Server 2005+ and hopefully the replacement for the aging mssql extension that uses dblib) on Codeplex under their BSDish Microsoft Public License - and YES, that is OSI approved

It's a C++ extension and after a brief glance I see a number of things that are definitely not "best practices" for PHP extensions, from odd parameter parsing to bad naming of their version constant and beyond, and the thing definitely wouldn't compile on any *Nix system but even a small step is a step in the right direction. However I can't help but think they could have moved faster on the extension with some help from the PHP community - they might know SQL Server and Windows but WE know PHP.

I'm also a little concerned that this isn't a true "open sourcing" of the code, allowing for patches and improvements because of the statement on the front page

We will be responsive to feedback on the CodePlex, MSDN Forum and through our blog, weighing in on both feature requests and bug reports. We currently plan to update the driver available on the MSDN download site approximately once every three months. When we update the driver on the MSDN download site, we will also push the corresponding changes to the source code up to the CodePlex site.

With each successive update, we will revisit this plan. We've seen too many projects over-reach in their plans to be responsive to the community. We would prefer to start with a more conservative approach and make sure we're successfully delivering on that before expanding.

- David Sceppa

I wonder why they are taking the path of keeping most of the development internal and only pushing it once in a blue moon - three months can see a LOT of changes, take a look at how far PHP 5.3 has come in three months.

I'll keep my skepticism at a minimum though, I'm generally an optimistic person, and since that code is now open source, you can always fork ;) I'd recommend some light reading to the head guys of the project - Producing Open Source Software is a good manifesto of what open source development needs to be successful and more than just a token gesture.