The Middleware Company, which operates TheServerSide Communities Web sites for developers, is getting a divorce from JBoss, makers of the JBoss open source Java pplication server, severing business ties between the two. If you listen to The Middleware Company, the argument is about trying to work out a situation in which JBoss employees, including Chairman/CEO and Founder Marc Fleury, are alleged to have anonymously posted messages promoting JBoss. If you listen to JBoss, the argument is about JBoss dropping advertising on serverside.com. JBoss spent about $12,000 in ads on the site during the past three months, according to the company. Fleury, in his blog, stressed he does not need a mask to speak his mind. He says the practice of anonymous postings, known as “astroturfing,” is wildly popular. But Fleury concludes in a May 21 posting, “‘Astroturfing’ is hereby banned at JBoss, starting with me.” Apparently, the two vendors had been very close, as evidenced by a recent publicity campaign by The Middleware Company. The company put out playing cards with the theme of “Who’s Who in Enterprise Java 2004,” featuring different players in the Java field. While Java founder James Gosling did not make the cut, Fleury and his wife, Nathalie, who is co-founder of JBoss and Director of Communications, both are featured, with Nathalie on the queen of diamonds card and Marc a joker.How any of this dispute helps educate Java developers and others about Java technologies and makes things life easier for enterprise IT developers, I don’t know. Can’t we all just get along? Technology Industry