Re: Why the split from Umich

["Kurt D. Zeilenga" <Kurt@openldap.org>]

At 11:17 AM 8/27/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Aside from the open development, can anyone provide some info on why
>OpenLdap is splitting off from UmichLDAP-3.3? 

OpenLDAP just picking up where Umich left off.  The Umich LDAP is not
actively maintained for quite some time.  The Umich LDAP team has disbanded.

Why OpenLDAP?

OpenLDAP started out of necessity at couple of months ago when we were
building Net Boolean messaging and directory services.  We needed a
stable LDAP server.  Umich 3.3 was the logical choice as it was freely
available.  But it was clear that no one was maintaining it.  We found
comfort in that others were still using this implementation and that
some patches were available.

It turns out though, it wasn't so simple as merging a few patches.
After merging what we could find and we considered building a "super"
patch to make things easier on others traveling down the same path.
But turns out, these few patches weren't enough.  In fact, we ended up
scourcing the lists and other open sources for patches.  In parallel,
we had develeped a few features we needed (such as TCP wrapper support).

It quickly became apparent that our creation was the most current version.
This was fine, but we want more (see http://www.openldap.org/roadmap.html).
We decided the best way to reach our objectives was through open source
development.

To make this happen, we decided to create The OpenLDAP Project.  To
coordinate the efforts and to ensure OpenLDAP remains open, we also
established The OpenLDAP Foundation, a non-profit corporation.

>I'm responsible for
>implementing and Ldap server and am trying to figure out who will provide
>the largest knowledge base, options, stability, etc.

Our goal is to become "the open source for LDAP software and information"
through the contributions of the community (we cannot do it ourselves).

>Does OpenLDAP have any plans for an Oracle hookup or certificates?

There are no plans for a Oracle-specific hookup, however check out the
roadmap for our generic SQL backend plans.

You can store certificates in OpenLDAP today.  Do you mean will we
support certificate-based authentication?  If so, yes.  LDAPv3 timeframe.

Regards, Kurt