HandlerSocket: Why did our version not take off?

There is quite a buzz about HandlerSocket built into the latest Percona Server. I agree with Henrik that this is a brilliant idea that is going to go very far!

But I did the same thing 2.5 years ago with the BLOB Streaming Engine. In this blog I explain how you can retrieve data out of the database using the BLOB Streaming Engine and a simple URL of the form: http://mysql-host-name:8080/database/table/blob-column/condition

Where condition has the form: column1=value1&column2=value2&...

Now I have to ask myself the question: why did we not manage to generate more enthusiasm for the idea?

Many agree that we can learn more from failure than success, so here is my list of top reasons for this particular failure:

1. Every idea has its time. In the last 2 years the awareness of NoSQL solutions has grown a lot, making RESTful and non-transactional storage and retrieval much better known and generally acceptable.
   
   
2. We had no platform on which to launch the idea. Without a server distribution a plug-in does not have a chance of real exposure (this was not obvious back when we started making plug-ins). Percona Server and MariaDB now present such a platform. This is great for the whole community, so support them! :)
   
   
3. Our software had not been proven in production. And this is one reason why building software based on an idea, instead of an actual project requirement is quite likely to fail.
   
   
4. We did it with PBXT and not a the main stream storage engine which everyone is already using. The really exciting thing about HandlerSocket is that you can use it to grab data in your existing database. This will allow it to spread like wild fire in a dry forest.
   
   
5. It is obvious to me that we at PrimeBase have a marketing problem! We have no clue how to get a message across to the public. It is really quite sad, and great technology like PBXT engine-level replication and BLOB streaming may die because of this. The following points also show lack of marketing skills - so next time you see him, hug your marketing guy! ;)
   
   
6. By using the name BLOB Streaming Engine, we did not make it clear that this works for all kinds data, not just BLOBs. (OK, and MyBS no was a terrible name - PBMS not much better - but "HandlerSocket" will prove that it has nothing to do with the name!)
   
   
7. We did not show benchmarks. For me it was obvious that retrieval would be significantly faster if it did not have to go through the SQL interface. Besides, as a developer I know you can easily manipulate benchmark results, so I reluctant to present them (although I do) for my own software.
   

For me, as a developer, it is very important that my software gets used. This is why I can understand why there is open source, and why we give away software for free.

But to developers it is not always obvious that giving it away for free does not automatically mean it will get used. So to my hacking compatriots: I hope this list will help you to do things better!

P.S. Congratulations Oracle on release of 5.5!