Dear All
I indicated earlier that I would post any reply I received from the core
dCache developers on the issue of making the code open source. I am sure
that this will generate more discussion but will hopefully also clarify
their current more formal position is:
"We are preparing the code to become available to everybody. And we are
making good progress.
i) srm , dcap , pnfs are already freely available.
ii) the upcoming replacement for pnfs (chimera) will be available as
soon as it will be rolled out.
iii) the rest is available for sites which can prove that they
contribute serious work to the dCache collaboration. (Already
CERN,BNL,RAL and some individuals which add well defined features in a
well defined timeframe) ...
And we will proceed in this direction.
But two consequences should be pretty clear to those people which are so
much excited about not having access to the dCache code.
i) there is no guarantee that we will include any patches people will
provide in case the full dCache becomes available.
ii) There will be no support from us for any non standard dcache
software.
This all might sound a little bit overcautious. And I hope
it doesn't sound too harsh. At least it's not at all meant so."
In the lead in to this more formal statement it was explained that the
present caution is an attempt to mitigate against too much local
customization which will split support efforts. This is why they are
more than happy to share the code with those who can and will contribute
to the full solution but have concern about locally added features which
may break the codebase and then require significant support effort or
divide development efforts.
I hope this helps.
Jeremy
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