My two biggest fans!

I almost died laughing a few days ago when I read this article by Dana Blankenhorn. It contains an interview with Rod Johnson, Spring's founder, and "Nelson" (I think it is Neelan) Choksi, I21's COO and Rod's new handler, who are on a charm tour with the press.

As the article demonstrates, Johnson hasn't lost his affinity for vacuous and slightly pompous generalizations: "people want an ethical vendor, an honest broker" (cuz, of course, it wouldn't be about the money would it...it's all about the community). I cross-checked his blog where one gleans similar insights along the lines of "the world is worldwide" and a comparison of his company to Walmart, where he modestly concludes that I21 is more global.

The funny part is when Dana asks the wonder boys what they truly think of yours truly. Both profess to be "Fleury Fans". The irony is that I happen to live in ATL, where the interview is taking place. The Corner Cafe is literally AROUND THE CORNER from my backyard. I go there every other day to buy my "baguette". You would think my two biggest fans would have dropped me a note.

This is coming from a man who never gave credit where credit is due; who never admitted to copying JBoss's business model, step by step; who bashed EJB2/JBoss in order to establish Spring; who conveniently fails to acknowledge that Spring's technical foundation and programming model rests on Gavin King's Hibernate and Aslak Hellesoy's Pico Container's pioneering work in dependency injection. This is a person who, in the past, every time the subject of JBoss or Marc Fleury came up, was better known for an over-eagerness to point out that he and his community are absolutely, positively, NOT in the least, NOT even one little bit...even REMOTELY like (those questionable characters at) JBoss, followed by a lot of self-congratulatory sanctimonious cant.

The word "ethical" is an interesting and culturally charged concept. The English (and people from Anglo-Saxon cultures) tend to find the the French "rude" because our ethics and Cartesian bias value "telling it like it is" and encourage argumentative conflict. The counterpoint is that the French tend to find the Brits to be insufferable hypocrites and phonies, probably because their "ethics" usually involve pretending to be being nice to people, and not wanting to offend them.

I say what I think; Rod tries to be nice...

If Rod Johnson had been "Marc Fleury" and was commenting on Marc Fleury, here is what the interview would have sounded like.

Dana Blankenhorn: "I sat down with Marc Fleury, two years ago, he sounded a lot like you, what do you think of Marc?"

Rod Johnson: "Marc Fleury? I hate his guts, what a prick. I am jealous. I hope he dies a horrible death. I can't stand the thought that that asshole made a lot money," starts to foam slightly at the mouth.

Neelan Choksi: "If you consider the trends of adoption of JBoss and Spring you will see that both curves move upward by a certain amount, and when you paint them in green, you tend to forget what it was that you asked me...so I put you to sleep and you don't write negative things that didn't come out of my mouth, and oh look! a bumble bee! Could I have more coffee please?"

At that point, "Rod" seriously loses it, bangs his fists on the table. "Son of a bitch! I'll get you!" the coffee spills all over, the journalist is shocked. But this is "reality press," so he is also loving it. Neelan hands Rod a "chill pill" with some water and says "Here, here, it is going to be fine, your moment will come, it is ok".

Then "Rod" smiles, and says "...but I am a big fan of his exit strategy".

"We are fans of Marc Fleury's exit strategy" would have been more honest.

Love you too, mmmwah!

marcf