Summary: Pete Grubbs grills Duane Chamblee, LAN Administrator at Indelible Blue.

Duane Chamblee has been a LAN administrator at Indelible Blue for the past 3 years. He is also responsible for a collection of important OS/2 updates, the WarpUp CD. He maintains a quiet but important presence in our community, often answering technical questions for fellow OS/2 users either at IB on one of the several listservs that he monitors. I first met Duane at Warpstock '98 where I recognized him from across the vendor's room from the ASCII portrait he uses as part of his signature. (No, I'm not making that up.)

His soft-spoken manner is counterpointed by a quick smile and pleasant sense of humor. I caught up with Duane early Saturday evening.

OS/2 e-Zine!: How long have you used OS/2?

Chamblee: Since 1991. 2.0 was the first one I played with. I'm not sure when that was.

OS/2 e-Zine!: What new products do think are vital to the OS/2 market?

Chamblee: Developing-- Gecko/Mozilla, WSOD, etc. Any audio/video media things that are in the works.

OS/2 e-Zine!: Do you think the Y2K bug will have any affect on the OS/2 market?

Chamblee: No. [Well,] it already has had an impact . . . companies have opted to replace Warp. [They've used Y2K as an excuse to get rid of their OS/2 machines.]

OS/2 e-Zine!: Assuming that it ships during your lifetime, what affect will the release of Windows 2000 have on the OS/2 market?

Chamblee: As it stands, I don't think Windows 2000 is going to have a big impact on OS/2 . . . no more than the current impact of NT.

OS/2 e-Zine!: Sum up your assessment of OS/2's viability now that Stardock's proposed client has been rejected?

Chamblee: It hasn't changed.

OS/2 e-Zine!: Does OS/2 need another client release? Is this really important to the platform's future? Why?

Chamblee: Yes. [Having a new client] eliminates a number of the steps (including my product) to get everything current . . . an out-of-the-box solution would be a big advantage in reccommending the product to somebody.

OS/2 e-Zine!: If you could send one message to IBM that you know would be read by everyone directly involved with OS/2's engineering/marketing, what would you say?

Chamblee: Streamline the process. They still have multiple methods of delivering the components of OS/2. Do a new client version, but clean it up.

OS/2 e-Zine!: There has always been a sense of community among OS/2 users. What do you attribute that to? Is it sufficient to keep the platform alive?

Chamblee: I attriubte it to the fact that the underdog always has its fans and [Warp] has had the Internet [access] built in. [As far as keeping the platform alive:] Yes ~no. The community needs to have IBM as a part of it. And IBM has not truly been a part of it, even when it was supporting it [OS/2]. The users can do it, but IBM has to contribute something.

OS/2 e-Zine!: Do you have any frustration with regards to IBM? If so, how do you deal with it?

Chamblee: Yes. I vent a lot. I deplore (and this is not just IBM) mismanangement. They are making very-narrow-minded decisions. OS/2 would have been much stronger if IBM had seriously deployed it internally . . . employed it themselves.

OS/2 e-Zine!: How important is IBM's adoption of the Scitech Display Doctor Drivers? Will this have a measurable impact on our community?

Chamblee: It will benefit the community and I like the idea of them [IBM] outsourcing parts of OS/2.

OS/2 e-Zine!: What are your favorite apps to run under OS/2?

Chamblee: WPS. It's the best shell there is because it allows me to put other apps into it . . . Netscape is good . . . and Object Desktop.

OS/2 e-Zine!: What are the hottest new OS/2 native apps?

Chamblee: Netscape. MP3 players . . . all the one's I've played with are nice . . . House/2 . . . all the GUI enhancers . . . Candybarz . . . X-Folder . . . Dialog Enhancer. . .

OS/2 e-Zine!: Do conventions like Warpstock, SCOUG's WarpExpo West and Warpstock Europe have any real impact? What/how much?

Chamblee: Yes. It [Warp] needs to be thought of and heard of in the press and what little press it gets has been in battles with Windows; it needs something else.

OS/2 e-Zine!: Of all the suggestions you've heard for increasing OS/2 market share, which seems most reasonable?

Chamblee: A new client.

OS/2 e-Zine!: Should we, as a community, try to boost mind- and/or market-share for OS/2, or should we accept it as a niche OS and get on with our lives?

Chamblee: We have to accept the niche but it doesn't mean we can't extoll the virtues of the OS.

OS/2 e-Zine!: How does this Warpstock differ from others you've attended?

Chamblee: [It's] very similar. There seems to be a good community, excitement and care about what's going to happen.

OS/2 e-Zine!: What is the single most interesting item on the weekend's schedule?

Chamblee: Making things work is interesting to me.

OS/2 e-Zine!: What differences do you see between OS/2's position in the market this year as compared to last?

Chamblee: I actually think that there are some things like the Scitech product that will improve the situation. As far as market share, I don't think it's declining much from last year other than in corporate arena where IBM has let or helped NT become a corporate platform.

OS/2 e-Zine!: In a world filled with FUD ~vaporware, is there any hope for a future w/o them? Will the computing industry ever be reliable? Please respond to this quote: "The most important problem facing this community is rampant dishonesty. We lie about schedules; we lie about features; we lie about functionality; we lie about budgets; we lie about costs; we lie about measurements; and then we lie about how much we are lying."

Chamblee: Eventually, it will be reliable. The problem with computers today (all software, hardware, OSes) is that they [developers] don't keep it simple. It has to have functionality at the human level. The original web was easy to use. After so much has been added to it, it's not nearly as easy to use or work [with]. They want to get everything they can into it (technology in general included) and it's not nearly as easy to use. [As far as the quote goes,] I think that's true. The industry as a whole is highly overvalued. It can tend to lead to more confusion, more work to deal with the problems it was meant to streamline. Though it streamlined them, it lead to another layer of complexities. I have to add that, to facilitate the transition into a service-type industry, poor-performing software that needs to be maintained regularly is becoming the status quo. I don't mean bugs. I mean that, in 6 months, you've got to maintain a product to keep it working.