In the Open Source community, where anyone can dissect your software code
for free, impostors are quickly weeded out by fellow geeks who can’t wait to
prove their worth by pointing out the shortcomings of others’ offerings. So
instead of merely boasting that they’ve written the best code for the job, one
company is trying to prove it. With their “Make it or Break It” contest
(http://www.sqlpower.ca/makeitorbreakit), SQL Power Group is challenging
anyone in the worldwide community to find flaws (bugs) in their new
Power(*)MatchMaker software. The Power(*)MatchMaker is a Data Cleansing Tool,
which can be run on any database platform to maximize data quality. Being
cross-platform, easy-to-use, and free to deploy would make it an invaluable
tool for database users across the globe – if it works as well as they say it
does.
“This contest serves 2 purposes,” says Jonathan Fuerth, lead programmer
at SQL Power. “It’s partly a thank-you to the community for making (our
previous Open Source release) the Power(*)Architect a success… but it’s
mainly to remind them that Open Source is only as good as they make it.”
While the prizes are not necessarily extravagant (USB flash drives and
T-Shirts are the current spoils), there’s a lot to be said for the bragging
rights that come from wearing a limited-edition T-shirt that gloats (and
proves) to fellow developers “I AM a better programmer than you.” In fact, for
a community that deals in free software, that may be the most valuable prize
of all.
For further information: about the Power(*)MatchMaker contest, visit
http://www.sqlpower.ca/makeitorbreakit; For more information or to schedule an
interview, contact Giulio Quaglieri at giulio@sqlpower.ca, or (416)
221-4220 ext. 250, SQL Power Group Inc., 2110-4950 Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M2N
6K1, www.sqlpower.ca
