Hadoop Caught in Loops
July 4, 2009
Dana Blankenhorn’s “Who Will Control Hadoop?” here raised an important question. The focus was close, but I considered his question in a broader context. Mr. Blankenthorn asked:
Do too many Hadoops spoil the code?
In a narrow sense, my view is let many flowers bloom. When the world was less fluid, flakey, and financially challenged, many efforts seemed like a good idea. Now, I am not so sure. Mr. Blankenthorn said:
But some reporters are beginning to ask who is really in charge of Hadoop. Is it Apache or Yahoo? Was Yahoo’s distribution a diss of Facebook, which previously developed its own Hadoop SQL, called Hive? Most projects have a community and a commercial arm. Hadoop’s importance has drawn a number of corporate sponsors to separately deliver their implementations. Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, and Facebook all have their own takes on Hadoop, alongside Apache and Cloudera. All these various Hadoops can be seen as a positive or a negative. As a positive, there is growth and momentum for the framework. As a negative, there are many organizations pulling Hadoop in different directions.
In a broad context, the value of open source software is that many hands working to create something that is not proprietary, not unstable, and not subject to the whims of a corporate titan is a foundation stone. On the other hand, fragmentation of an important technology makes some folks wary of open source.
The way online works is to reward one company with a virtual monopoly. This is a natural consequence of costs and user behavior. The problem is that when one outfit is in control, that organization follows the well worn path of profit and benefit maximization. That can’t be helped either.
In short, I think the same type of financial meltdown that has trashed some individuals’ plans for the future is likely to take place again. Tricky stuff, indeed.
Stephen Arnold, July 4, 2009
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