In a time where technology doesn’t matter, its important to have technology easy available. Specially for students and young developers. During the OpenNTF BOF Session at IBM Connect we were shocked how old the youngest XPages Developer was. Are we losing the next generation?
The community around XPages / Domino is one of the most vibrant. There are a lots of good resources available on the internet. But we are missing a licence model which allows young developers easy to learn the technology. What we ask is a XWork Server Community Edition, available for free. The usage should be limited to private person with no commercial aspect. No Replication, Mail, Clustering is needed and the limitations of the regular XWork Server should also be in place.
The core purpose of the XWork Server Community Edition is to attract new developers from outside of the yellow bubble. The should learn the technology and they will love it. I belive that this will lead to new solutions based on the XWork Server, which can be delivered via IBM Softlayer to the cloud. IBM you should give this a try, there is nothing to loose.
guedebyte 
John Dalsgaard
February 2, 2014 at 3:00 pm
Agree – that would be a good thing!
On a side note I want to tell a small story (that I also mentioned to Scott Souder). Last year (late summer) we had an intern that stayed with us for 3-4 months while finishing her final term while studying computer science. I gave her two options for her to decide between:
1. XPages, Java, model-view-controller, etc.
2. Mobile development using AppCelerator Titanium
After having considered this she came back and said that if it was possible then she would really prefer to work with XPages. And so she did. From school she knew Eclipse and Java to some extent.
During the time she was with us she learned XPages quickly – and actively produced parts of the application we are working with. She needed to learn a lot of new things about Java, source control, JSF lifecycle, etc. – and she loved it!
The day we left for IBM Connect she passed her final exam with a top grade. It even turned out that two other students in her class were working with XPages during their internships.
I find it really reassuring that a young girl (early twenties) is so appealed by these technologies. So it is easy to get them involved. I suppose it only takes a couple of things:
– We (the old ones) need to bring them into the “yellow sphere”
– The Domino designer is free – but you also need a server to run things on for it to work
We have decided to try another intern next year – and then see if we can get one more interested in XPages 😉
guedebyte
February 2, 2014 at 3:17 pm
Thanks for sharing this great story with us
Palmi
February 3, 2014 at 10:38 am
I totally agree 100 % and I hope that IBM is reading this. Scott Souder or john Beck please make this happen.
Patrick Kwinten (@patrickkwinten)
February 3, 2014 at 10:52 am
For new developers a XWork Server Community Edition is highly welcome. Perhaps also for independent developers who want to work at the lowest cost possible?
Oliver Busse
February 3, 2014 at 5:07 pm
I really hope to read a headline on CollabToday/OpenNTF: “New project created: XWork Server CE – and soon a part of the OpenNTF Essentials” !!
guedebyte
February 3, 2014 at 5:10 pm
That would be a nice dream Oliver, but having a XWork Server CE, would be a good step