Now that RGB has written a thesis on this ... :) Robert G. Brown wrote: > On Tue, 15 Aug 2006, Bill Rankin wrote: > >>> Are there problems so specific to the higher education realm >>> that you think they'd benefit from their own forum? >> >> Not so much that would benefit from their own forum, but there are a >> lot of issues that are not directly related to the construction and >> technical operation of clusters, but rather more >> administrative/organizational in nature. >> >> Things like: >> >> - integration of a cluster into a larger University IT infrastructure >> (storage, authentication, policies, et. al.) >> - funding models (central funds, grant based) both for equipment and >> personnel. >> - centralized research IT versus local departmental/school support. >> - education and training >> - deployment issues (who pays F&M?) >> - sustainability and growth >> >> Some of these topics have content that would be appropriate for this >> list, some not-so-much. There are also some people I know that would >> be interested in participating in the conversation, but not about >> general Beowulfery. > > This is a key question (and answer). There are issues of critical mass > for a successful list to consider. There are also alternative formats > -- e.g. wiki instead of actual mailing list. Finally there are issues > of sponsorship and linkage -- it is easier to get to critical mass if > there is a mechanism other than google for feeding people and certain > threads of discussion over to the new venue. Possibilities include > crossconnecting/linking the new resource with an existing resource to > get some synergy, hijacking threads on the beowulf list that are > sufficiently "academic" that they are as noted slightly OT for what most > of the list membership cares to here (if there is any way to note that), > periodic advertisement on the beowulf list (in the form of gentle > invitation to move threads vs hijacking:-).
[disclaimer: Not officially associated with them, but they are great people] The good folks over at bioinformatics.org have a number of great lists on there, and the director of the organization, a small non-profit (by choice) entity, would probably help out if you felt you needed another forum. They have a bioclusters list there, as well as a biodevelopers, and a few other good ones. Low traffic, etc. They are quite interested in the edu side of things. I personally wouldn't have a problem seeing that traffic here on beowulf. Beowulfery is not just the technology, its the whole kit-and-kiboodle. -- Joseph Landman, Ph.D Founder and CEO Scalable Informatics LLC, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web : http://www.scalableinformatics.com phone: +1 734 786 8423 fax : +1 734 786 8452 or +1 866 888 3112 cell : +1 734 612 4615 _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
