Cloudera Corrects Error over Apache Hadoop
Reporting on the career path of an open source project can be rocky terrain, even when all you're trying to do is spread good news about someone you think has won some well-earned recognition
Posted by Killian McAleese, 30th March 2011
Last week's MediaGuardian Innovation Awards (or 'Megas') saw open source Apache Hadoop scoop the top prize of MediaGuardian Innovator of the Year.
Many in the open source industry will not have been surprised to see the project gain some prominent recognition ahead of contenders as heavy-weight as the iPad and Wikileaks. Hadoop has an impressive clientèle which includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and eBay.
And with the best of intentions, Cloudera, a prominent distributor of Hadoop, published a glowing press release claiming inaccurately that Doug Cutting, creator of the project and also a Cloudera employee, had turned up in person to collect the prestigious award, when in fact his colleagues Owen O’Malley, Sanjay Radia and Jakob Homan attended the ceremony.
'A Serious Error'
In a display of exquisite online etiquette, Cloudera co-founder and Chief Executive Mike Olson announced on the company's blog that they “will be more careful in the future.”
“That was a serious error, and I want to apologize to the community for making it.”
In a move generous to the Hadoop team members present at the ceremony, Olson was also keen to acknowledge that the award should not simply be viewed as a personal achievement for Cutting, but in the context of the entire open source project.
It's nice to see a such a high profile figure showing a little humility, and acting so very open source. One wonders whether a newspaper in the same position wouldn't hide such corrections and retractions in a dark, unread corner of a page somewhere?
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