Eliot,

As we have discussed in the past, DCE can be used to extend the *ilities of the glasshouse into the distributed environment. However, not all of those applications will be traditional glasshouse applications. I am glad to see the DFS community express their concerns about the lack of DFS in the DCE profile for I.T. Dialtone.

From the models I have seen, the I.T. Dialtone reference architecture would benefit from DFS in the Data Services element, and DFS certainly could qualify as an Infrastructure Application. If someone can't build a Java Client with local cache to support DFS access, we may as well fold up our tents and go home.

The Decorum conference provided ample evidence of DFS deployments that are supporting a broad community of users well beyond the raised floor environment.

They are important constituents that can play a pivotal role in ensuring DCE's place as an I.T. Dialtone profile.

As the market surges on to Component Frameworks and E-Biz, it is important to note that CORBA, *Beans, and other hot beds of Internet development define no alternative that could substitute for the fundamental services that DFS and related technologies offer today.

I hope that the TOG Architecture Board will strongly consider DCE and DFS to be strategic elements when they begin to populate the I.T. Dialtone framework.

Best Regards,
Bill

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William A. Estrem
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