Re: [thredds] [netcdf-java] The future of THREDDS and netCDF

  • To: Gerry Creager - NOAA Affiliate <gerry.creager@xxxxxxxx>
  • Subject: Re: [thredds] [netcdf-java] The future of THREDDS and netCDF
  • From: John Caron <caron@xxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2015 15:23:18 -0600
thanks, Gerry

On Thu, Aug 13, 2015 at 2:57 PM, Gerry Creager - NOAA Affiliate <
gerry.creager@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> John
>
> Good luck, and thanks for all the work over the years!
> gerry
>
> On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 8:45 PM, John Caron <caron@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Thanks much Ben. See you on the other side.
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 2:29 PM, Ben Domenico <bendomenico@xxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks for the very thoughtful and thought provoking farewell note.
>>>
>>> Godspeed, John Caron.
>>>
>>> -- Ben
>>>
>>> On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 1:06 PM, John Caron <caron@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Today on my last day at Unidata, I want to add a few thoughts about the
>>>> future of THREDDS and netCDF.
>>>>
>>>> Software lives and dies by the ability of its users to get questions
>>>> answered and bugs fixed and possibly features added. While support from
>>>> Unidata is solid, it is by no means guaranteed. Its crucial that we
>>>> continue to foster and develop a community of contributors to THREDDS and
>>>> netCDF from outside Unidata. Since I am now becoming one, these issues
>>>> are front and center for me.
>>>>
>>>> 1) For software revision control and making contributions easy, I think
>>>> we are in good shape. Workflows using git have made a huge difference
>>>> everywhere in Open Source Software (OSS) in the last several years. Unidata
>>>> now has all of its important software source code publicly available on
>>>> github. Of course theres always much more that could be done to document
>>>> code and design decisions.
>>>>
>>>> 2) For question asking / answering I think we need to move away from
>>>> private conversations using esupport, and use public forums where all can
>>>> read and contribute to the conversation. Here are my recommendations:
>>>>
>>>>    - Use the mailing lists (thredds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
>>>>    netcdf-java@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) for (almost) all questions about
>>>>    using the software. These conversations are public so that everyone may
>>>>    benefit from seeing what questions are being asked and answered, and 
>>>> also
>>>>    to share their own experiences or to provide answers.
>>>>    -
>>>>    - Use the private esupport ticket system (
>>>>    support-thredds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
>>>>    support-netcdf-java@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) only for sensitive matters
>>>>    that need to be private (even then, if you dont want the question
>>>>    publically archived, you have to say that in the ticket). Note that 
>>>> others
>>>>    (for example me), wont read or comment on your conversation.
>>>>    -
>>>>    - Use GitHub issues (https://github.com/Unidata/thredds/issues) if
>>>>    you are using the source code in some way, eg sending pull requests, or 
>>>> for
>>>>    questions/comments about the source code.
>>>>    -
>>>>    - Its also possible to use stack exchange (eg
>>>>    http://stackexchange.com/search?q=thredds), but we dont yet have a
>>>>    clear workflow around that. Id like to see a specific stack exchange 
>>>> forum
>>>>    become the place for all scientic data formats / access protocols (HDF,
>>>>    netCDF, opendap, OGC, CF, etc). We need a critical mass for this to 
>>>> work.
>>>>    It would be good if stack exchange or some spin-off would specialize in
>>>>    software support.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 3) Issue tracking in JIRA is ok for now (
>>>> https://bugtracking.unidata.ucar.edu/browse/TDS), though maybe github
>>>> could be used. We need a system for allowing non-Unidata users to add
>>>> issues and comment on existing issues.
>>>>
>>>> 4) Static analysis with Coverity (
>>>> https://scan.coverity.com/projects/388?tab=overview) is very useful
>>>> for code quality checking, and is free for OSS.
>>>>
>>>> 5) Unit testing and Continuous Integration (CI) are not completely
>>>> solved problems. We use Jenkins and Travis, but these are not public
>>>> (Jenkins) or complete (Travis). The THREDDS group is continuing to
>>>> investigate long term, public, scaleable solutions for this.
>>>>
>>>> In summary, software development tools and infrastructure have become
>>>> much more mature and rich in the last 10 years. OSS has coalesced around
>>>> certain technologies like git and stack exchange.  Im looking forward to
>>>> the continued evolution of this ecosystem in the next 10 years.  We as a
>>>> community want to track best practices and evolve along with it.
>>>>
>>>> John
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> thredds mailing list
>>>> thredds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> For list information or to unsubscribe,  visit:
>>>> http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/mailing_lists/
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Gerry Creager
> NSSL/CIMMS
> 405.325.6371
> ++++++++++++++++++++++
> “Big whorls have little whorls,
> That feed on their velocity;
> And little whorls have lesser whorls,
> And so on to viscosity.”
> Lewis Fry Richardson (1881-1953)
>
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