Practical Internet Groupware

chromatic has returned with yet another review. For this time around, he's taken a look at O'Reilly's Practical Internet Groupware. As you would imagine, the book focuses on using software to better enable groups to work together. Jon Udell, the author, does a great job of exploring how to use technology to better work together.

Practical Internet Groupware
author	Jon Udell
pages	497
publisher	O'Reilly, 10/1999
rating	8/10
reviewer	chromatic
ISBN	1565925378
summary	A detailed discussion of how and why to connect your users and customers to information and to each other using common Internet protocols and applications.

Problem Space

Successfully managing the flow of information depends answering a few questions. How do people communicate? How do they find information? How can businesses provide information links between their employees and customers?

Even if you do provide them with tools to collaborate and to manage data more efficiently, how can you ensure that they will use them? What will the future of business and personal computing look like?

The Solution

Practical Internet Groupware argues that we already have the blocks we need to build rich communication tools -- open Internet protocols, ubiquitous web browsers, e-mail clients, and newsgroup readers, and quick and dirty scripting languages. By understanding and applying the various technologies appropriately, you can not only reduce the burden of creating, aggregating, and retrieving data, but also enhance its availability and utility.

What's Good?

Take the word 'Practical' very seriously. While the bulk of the programming examples are Perl, there's JavaScript, VB, Java, and XML thrown in the mix. Udell also stresses working within your existing environment -- whether that means activating the NNTP server included with IIS 4.0 on an NT server or installing INN on the Linux box in the corner. He's also very pragmatic. While XML is poised to be a much cleaner tool, its still-limited availability means that the book spends time presenting solutions which work in the here-and-now heterogenous quick and dirty landscape. Of course, there's also information about shiny new (and mature-but-not-yet-widespread) standards such as LDAP.

Also, Udell's experience in the field of collaboration includes years developing and polishing groupware solutions at Byte magazine. Clearly, he has a passion for the subject as well as a deep understanding of the issues involved. Both shine through in his writing.

Through the pages, Udell develops a handful of interesting and useful applications. One is a Docbase system, which blends together a newsgroup, a database, and a web site with indexed searching, various levels of access, and data entry capabilities. Another grabs content from various web sites and merges it into a consistent whole.

The most interesting project in the whole book is something called Distributed HTTP. It's a Perl-based web server that actually runs on client machines. It's easily extensible (with Perl), supporting authentication, modular database access, and replication with other servers. It's really a clever piece of work. (Just imagine remote data entry from field technicians equipped with laptops, or browsing reports from other locations, and that's the tip of the iceberg.)

What's Not So Good?

Like most trailblazing works, the biggest frustration is realizing that there are great ideas here that few people have realized yet. As such, expect to be one part cheerleader, one part trainer, one part pariah, and one part referee if you're implementing things. Also, if you're not somewhat familiar with common Internet protocols such as HTTP, NNTP, and SMTP, or with the concepts and execution of HTML and XML, or with general Perl, you'll have to play catchup through the later chapters.

Summary

It's hard not to believe that Practical Internet Groupware is a year ahead of the curve -- Udell's approach to technology and the seamless integration of various information stores is a tempting vision. If you're directing rivulets data, get this book, let your boss read the first section, and then set about transforming the way you do business. If you're interested in where the Internet and business are headed, get this book.

The cover animals are seals and sea lions.

Table of Contents

Purchase this book at fatbrain.

1. Using Internet Groupware
2. 1. The Conferencing Dimension
   2. Public Online Communities
   3. Intranet Collaboration with NNTP and HTML
   4. Information Management Strategies for Groupware Users
3. Groupware Docbases
4. 1. Docbases as Groupware Applications
   2. Docbase Input Techniques
   3. Docbase Navigation
   4. Organizing Search Results
5. Groupware Applications and Services
6. 1. Conferencing Applications
   2. Groupware Servlets
   3. Membership Services
   4. Authentication and Authorization Techniques
   5. Deploying NNTP Discussion Servers
7. Advanced Internet Groupware
8. 1. Automating Internet Components
   2. Distributed HTTP
   3. Epilogue
9. Appendixes
10. 1. Software Developed for this Book
    2. Internet RFCs: A Groupware Perspective