[ajug-members] Is RichFaces still a viable candidate?

[Joe Sam Shirah]

    Apropos both a query at JaxJUG regarding Glassfish, and recent posts
about open source at AJUG:

    I'm starting a new project using SJSAS 9.1 (productized version of
Glassfish to keep the client happy,) and Facelets.  In many ways this is a
dream project, in that everything will be from scratch except for an
existing database.  For some parts of the app, after quite a bit of review I
decided to use RichFaces and spent several days (ending yesterday morning)
creating an initial prototype.

    Yesterday evening, I went to check something on the live demo and here's
what I see:

                        http://livedemo.exadel.com/richfaces-demo/

If you didn't click it yet, what you *now* get is:

                    http://www.info.redhat.com/forms/RichFaces

which is a registration form asking for:

"REGISTRATION
Red Hat's trusted partner, Exadel, who originally developed and open sourced
RichFaces, maintains a RichFaces demo application that showcases the
different components available in RichFaces.

Register to view the demo, and learn how to use the RichFaces JSF library
components.

Please complete this form with a valid email address to access the demo.

       RichFaces Registration
      * First Name:
      * Last Name:
      * Email Address:
      * Business Phone:
      * Organization:
      * Country:    "

    This is bothersome to me, because it turned me off and I expect it will
turn off many other developers.  If one has to register with contact info to
*see a demo*, what lies in the future?  Especially given this quote:

    "In time, RichFaces is expected to be integrated into JBoss Enterprise
Platforms, at which point it will be supported via Red Hat subscriptions."

given in a number of press blurbs like:

http://java.sys-con.com/read/428583.htm

    Incidentally, to me this requirement tends to make me wonder about the
overflow to other products like Seam.

    I'm at a point where it will cost me billing for several days (my
business ethics don't include billing for something I have to revamp due to
my *apparently* poor choice) and time for my client, but I can still avoid
being stuck with a product that dies from self-inflicted injuries or becomes
proprietary while billing itself as open source.

    So, any thoughts?


                                                         Joe Sam

Joe Sam Shirah -        http://www.conceptgo.com
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