I Love You Wakanda…but I'm Breaking Up

The secret is out. I'm admitting my love affair for "Wakanda" in Servoy-land for the first time. Surprised? I suspect not given that Servoy developers are on the prowl and Wakanda is the hottest chic in the room. So shapely, so mesmerizing, sooo…oooohhh baby, your throaty voice….

(*Snap*) Huh, what was I talking about?

[image unavailable: Breakup]

Wow Wakanda. You…me…what just happened? I thought we had something going there. Something beautiful, a vision of the future we were going to make work. A house full of Javascript kids living in a neighborhood where only Javascript people lived.

But…but…how could you do this to me? And with…that sleazy corporate bastard you said you were over. You told me this would never happen!

It's not a big deal you say? It happens to everyone and you made only a small booboo. But you know this is how I have been hurt over and over in the past!

I know he has more money than me. A big house, so many toys, and damn—what a sweet car. But he has no dreams! All he thinks about is money! Remember when you left him for a dream? How could you go back to him now before giving us a real chance?

And did you check to see if his money is still real?  Maybe 4D subscriptions for the year are way off, no one gives a shit about the upcoming 4D Summit '13 in spite of it being in Vegas ("Have you heard the news? 4D v14 has SQL Views!"…what decade are we in again?), and he's using you to keep up appearances.

You sold out. And now when I think of you I see you for what you really are. A NoSQL database that is just a copy of existing SQL database behavior; a slightly buggy and gimped IDE already collecting cruft around the waistline; client-side widgets that look sexy until you get up close; and critical features still getting worked out in therapy.

Wakanda, I didn't think of you in those terms. It was the possibility of what we could be at some point in the future—a point many of us picture the puck arriving at—that I bought into. You were beautiful, radiant and full of possibilities.

But in a moment of indiscretion, you destroyed the dream we had together. Now you're just another average corporate product that wants everything for yourself. Good luck with your marketing bullet points, everyone has those. I think you will find now that you have to live up to yours. I almost feel sorry for the next poor bastard that comes along.

I love you Wakanda but I'm breaking up...for now. Can we still be friends?

Author's notes: this may or may not be a true story. In full disclosure I have been accused in the past of not having an emotional bone in my body.

If you're wondering what this is all about, the Wakanda 5 release brought along with it a surprise turn-around on their licensing approach. I appreciate what they are trying to accomplish but they reverted to an old school approach that I think is dying faster than PCs. As a result, instead of assuring the future of Wakanda I think they threw away their best chance of Wakanda taking off.

For more info, check out the Wakanda general forum (lot's of licensing threads going on right now). My detailed feedback is here: http://forum.wakanda.org/showthread.php?5038-New-licenses-penalize-independent-developers-the-most

Thematic inspiration shoutout to Ben. You did make me think. Once I was done laughing.

And yes, we were paying Wakanda developers so we're allowed to break up.