Apps Messaging Manifesto

[John Taylor]

Hi Rob,

On 12 Apr 2007, at 15:39, Rob Seaman wrote:

> Mark Taylor wrote:
>
>> A couple of other items from the PLASTIC manifesto http:// 
>> plastic.sourceforge.net/manifesto.html (also John's) may be closer  
>> to what you had in mind:
>>
>>   - The astronomer should have a suite of tools at his disposal,
>>     each of which does one thing well, and can be composed according
>>     to his needs.
>>
>>   - Developers are more likely to produce tools that do one thing  
>> well
>>     if they can easily out-source their secondary concerns to other
>>     tools.
>>
>> Though in some cases these points were deduced from the state of
>> the protocol post hoc, I'd say they are a fair representation of the
>> thinking which led to PLASTIC as it stands.
>
> Better - but still no description of what kind of thing is being  
> built.

We don't know yet, at least we don't know exactly.  I agree it would  
be good to have a clearer idea of what people want from the messaging  
system - hence my recent call for use cases.  However, I don't think  
we can say precisely what is required because our customers don't  
know.  I'm sure our requirements will change as the design  
solidifies, and will change again once we get the software in the  
hands of the astros.


>
>> Maybe someone from elsewhere on the "diversity of opinions" spectrum
>> (or even in the peanut gallery) would like to agree/disagree/comment/
>> suggest amendments.
>
> How about:
>
> "VOOOM (VO O-O Messaging) is a simple messaging protocol for VO  
> toolkit applications to communicate on the same host."


Actually, we did agree that much pretty early on:
http://www.ivoa.net/twiki/bin/view/IVOA/ApplicationsMessagingStorySoFar
though I neglected to put it in the manifesto.  I'd be happy to add  
it in though - it looks like a pretty good summary of what we're  
doing, while leaving plenty of wiggle room.

Love the acronym.

>
> Folks have been haggling about details of a solution when they have  
> yet to agree on the problem being solved.  Implicit in the  
> statement above is that the VO might well specify other messaging  
> protocols for other purposes.  There is no way to keep VOOOM simple  
> otherwise.
>
> Also suggest that the diminutive VOOOM compliant hub be referred to  
> as "CatZ".
>

At risk of looking very ignorant....I'll bite....WHAT?

John


> Rob Seaman
> NOAO
>