+1 non-binding Andy Seaborne: > Hi there, > > Following the discussion thread, here is the formal vote on the Marmotta > proposal: > > Please cast your votes on whether to accept the Apache Marmotta proposal: > > [ ] +1 Accept Marmotta into the Apache Incubator > [ ] +0 Indifferent to the acceptance of Marmotta > [ ] -1 Do not accept the Marmotta proposal because ... > > The vote will be open until at least 23:59 Sunday 2nd December UTC > (which is three full days from midnight tonight) > > Andy > > http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/MarmottaProposal > > ----------------------- > > == Abstract > > Marmotta is a Linked Data platform for industry-strength installations. > > == Proposal > > The goal of Apache Marmotta is to provide an open implementation of a > Linked Data Platform that can be used, extended, and deployed easily by > organizations who want to publish Linked Data or build custom > applications on Linked Data. > > The phrase "Linked Data" is used here idiosyncratically to refer to a > data integration paradigm across the Web. The term was coined by Tim > Berners-Lee in 2006, and it is based on four very simple principles > which basically describe recommended best practices for exposing, > sharing, and connecting pieces of data, information, and knowledge on > the Semantic Web using URIs and the RDF technology stack. Therefore > Linked Data is about using the Web to connect related data that wasn't > previously linked, or using the Web to lower the barriers to linking > data currently linked using other methods. > > Marmotta will follow the core recommendations of the W3C on RDF, SPARQL > and Linked Data publishing, particularly the emerging Linked Data > Platform (LDP) recommendation. It will also offer extensions for > frequently needed additional functionalities like Linked Data Querying, > WebID, WebACL, Reasoning, and Versioning. Marmotta aims to cover both, > Linked Open Data, as well as Enterprise Linked Data scenarios, providing > facilities to deal with different data sources and requirements (small > data/big data, open access/restricted access, etc). > > == Background > > The Semantic Web isn't just about putting data on the web. It is about > making links, so that a person or machine can explore the web of data. > Moreover, the Web has quickly evolved to a Read-Write paradigm, and > Linked Data technologies too. And Marmotta will address this challenge > and offer a common infrastructure for organizations working in this area. > > Marmotta comes as a continuation of the work in the Linked Media > Framework (aka LMF) project. LMF is an easy-to-setup server application > that bundles central Semantic Web technologies to offer some advanced > services. The Linked Media Framework consists of LMF Core which provides > a Read-Write Linked Data server, plus some modules that complement the > server with other added added capabilities, such as, SPARQL 1.1, LDPath, > LDCache, Reasoning, Versioning, etc. Besides, LMF also provides a Client > Library, currently available in Java, PHP, and Javascript, as a > convenient API abstraction around the LMF web services. Currently LMF > integrates with other relevant tools (Apache Stanbol, Google Refine or > Drupal) to cover a wider range of use cases and needs. > > == Rationale > > Linked Data technologies are now at a turning point from mostly research > projects to industrial applications, and a lot of standardisation is > currently in progress. Industrial applications require a reliable and > scalable infrastructure that follows and helps defining a standard way > of publishing and consuming Linked Data on the Web. The proposers have a > strong background in building such applications and have invested > considerable effort in the last years to building up an initial version > of such a platform (the “Linked Media Framework” or “LMF”). Starting > from this solid base, we strongly believe that Apache is the right > environment to open the development of this project to a wider scope. > > Marmotta has the potential of being a reference implementation and > Apache provides a better environment for a collaborative development > effort. With its well-established governance model based on meritocracy > and handling IP/legal issues, people from different organizations can > more easily contribute to the project. This will help unify the efforts > of people implementing the Linked Data Platform specification and other > Semantic Web standards. In addition, it would considerably help > organizations in adopting Linked Data technologies and would provide a > solid base for further research activities in the community. > > == Initial Goals > > * Foster the use of Semantic Web Technologies in industry > > * Provide an open source and community-driven implementation of a Linked > Data Platform and related Semantic Web standards, LDP 1.0 Draft and > SPARQL 1.1 mainly > > * Move the existing LMF source from the current Google Code page to the > Apache infrastructure > > * Remove LMF extensions that are not relevant for a core Linked Data > platform (e.g. semantic search and content enhancement) > > * Define a plugable architeture for providing a data governance > framework for enterprise legacy sources > > * Revise the architecture, moving to a non-proprietary RDF API (Sesame > or Jena) and deciding whether to move to OSGi/Felix or stay with > CDI/JavaEE as SOA framework > > * Identify and replace dependencies with a non-compatible license (e.g. > replace XOM with JDOM) > > == Current Status > > The source for the current LMF is a stable software artifact that, > having emerged from research circles, has already a relevant number of > real world installations i.e. Red Bull Media House, Salzburger > Nachrichten, derStandard.at, etc. > > == Meritocracy > > LMF is the outcome of a number of research projects > coordinated/participated by Salzburg Research during the last five > years. The original developers are still part of the core development > team, while at the same time many new committers have joined the team. > Taking this step we have made it clear to our community that going > forward, the community, rather than a single organization, will > determine the future of Marmotta. > > Meritocracy is inherent in the research community we come from, and > since Apache Marmotta aims to be a unifying project for this community > it is only natural to continue this approach. > > == Community > > Marmotta addresses two target communities: On the one hand, > researchers/developers who are working with Semantic Web technologies. > On the other hand, companies or organizations that require Semantic Web > infrastructure. The initial committers are active participants in both > communities. > > == Core Developers > > Sebastian Schaffert (sebastian dot schaffert at salzburgresearch dot at) > Thomas Kurz (thomas dot kurz at salzburgresearch dot at) > Jakob Frank (jakob dot frank at salzburgresearch dot at) > Dietmar Glachs (dietmar dot glachs at salzburgresearch dot at) > Sergio Fernández (sergio dot fernandez at salzburgresearch dot at) > > == Alignment > > Marmotta complements and integrates well with the current landscape of > Apache projects, especially with the emerging “semantic technologies” > cluster within the ASF. Concretely, Marmotta will align with the > following projects: > > * Apache Commons (lang, loggging, http and so on) is extensively used in > many part of the project > > * Apache Tomcat is currently the primary platform for deployment; with > Marmotta, Tomcat can be turned into a Linked Data server > > * Apache Stanbol will very likely adopt parts of the Marmotta > infrastructure, particularly for implementing the entity hub and for > exposing the RDF data as Linked Data > > * Apache Jena could become the RDF API used throughout Marmotta; an > architecural decision is yet to be taken > > * Apache Any23 could be integrated in the LMF as wrapper around non-RDF > data sources to consume them as Linked Data; a similar approach has > already been taken by the LMF > > * Apache Tika could be use for metada extraction of content > > * Apache Karaf and Apache Felix could become the OSGi container for > running and configuring the Marmotta components > > In addition to these more-or-less concrete proposals, there are some > options that still require some strategic decisions. For example, it > make make sense to build a storage backend based on Apache Hadoop for > large-scale installations using HBase (e.g. jena grande, h2rdf, hdrs, > hadoop rdf). Several extensions also build on existing Apache projects, > most importantly the LMF Semantic Search component, which offers > semantic search over Linked Data resources. > > == Known Risks > > Probably one of the major risks will not be able to engage the community > for addressing the new challenges. Knowing this, we will do our best to > provide the greater facilities to attract new developers and > organizations. In particular, we will try to actively engage developers > from the Linked Data community through our networks. > > == Orphaned Products > > The current project is part of the business portfolio and a strategic > project of the contributor organization, and will continue in that way. > So there is no risk of any of the usual warning signs of orphaned or > abandoned code. > > == Inexperience with Open Source > > The committers have large experience with open source development and > communities. Several of the key committers have been actively involved > in Open Source projects for more than 10-15 years. The initial code base > of Marmotta has already been developed as Open Source project in the > last 5 years. > > == Homogenous Developers > > Because we are aware about the initial list of committers is not the > best for a long, it exists a strong commitment to spread the project > creating a much more diverse development team. Part of the reason to > enter the Apache incubation process is to open up the development to > more interested participants. > > == Reliance on Salaried Developers > > Right now most or all of that work is salaried, but the developers are > identifying themselves very much with the project. When opening up the > development using Apache as a platform, we expect that the future > development will occur on both salaried and volunteer time, particularly > by participants from the Linked Data community. > > == Relationships with Other Apache Projects > > Although current RDF/SPARQL support in LMF is build on top of OpenRDF > Sesame API, Marmotta is closely related to many Apache projects, such as > Stanbol, Jena and Any23. See “Alignment” above. > > == An Excessive Fascination with the Apache Brand > > While we expect the Apache brand may help attract more contributors, our > interests in starting this project is based on the factors mentioned in > the Rationale section. > > == Documentation > > Documentation for the current project can be found at: > > http://lmf.googlecode.com > > http://doc.lmf.googlecode.com/hg/api/index.html > > http://doc.lmf.googlecode.com/hg/rest/index.html > > http://doc.lmf.googlecode.com/hg/client/index.html > > == Initial Source > > LMF (formerly KiWi) has been developed since 2008. It is important to > say that the whole LMF will not be contributed to Marmotta, actually > only those parts that make up the "Linked Data Platform" functionality > (Linked Data Server, RDF Store, SPARQL, LDCache, Versioning, Reasoner > and LDPath) . The idea is to focus Marmotta much more in the core needs, > keeping all surrounding functionalities (Media-related modules and > Semantic Search, basically) out of the initial scope. Although the > community will be who ultimately decides what are the relevant modules. > Since LMF is a very modular software artifact it will be pretty easy to > make such partitioning to kick-off Marmotta. > > The current source code can be found at Google Code: > http://lmf.googlecode.com > > == Source and Intellectual Property Submission Plan > > Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH is the sole copyright owner > of the initial code to be contributed, so should not be any problem with > the standard IP clearance process. Current licence is already Apache > Software License 2.0. > > == External Dependencies > > Most of current dependencies should have Apache compatible licenses, > including BSD, CDDL, CPL, MPL and MIT licensed dependencies. We are > aware of some incompatible licenses right now, but we will work to solve > this issue. See Appendix A for a detailed list of dependencies. > > == Cryptography > > Does Not Apply. > > == Required Resources > > Mailing lists > > marmotta-dev > marmotta-commits > marmotta-users > > Repository > > git://git.apache.org/marmotta.git > > Issue Tracking > > Jira: MARMOTTA (Kanban board enabled at GreenHopper) > > Other Resources > > Jenkins/Hudson for builds and test running. > Wiki for internal documentation purposes > Blog to improve the project dissemination > > == Initial Committers > > Sebastian Schaffert > (sebastian dot schafftert at salzburgresearch dot at) > Thomas Kurz > (thomas dot kurz at salzburgresearch dot at) > Jakob Frank > (jakob dot frank at salzburgresearch dot at) > Dietmar Glachs > (dietmar dot glachs at salzburgresearch dot at) > Sergio Fernández > (sergio dot fernandez at salzburgresearch dot at) > Rupert Westenthaler > (rwesten at apache dot org) > > == Affiliations > > All initial committers are currently affiliated to Salzburg Research > Forschungsgesellschaft mbH. > > == Sponsors > > = Champion > > Andy Seaborne (andy at apache dot org) > > = Nominated Mentors > > Fabian Christ (fchrist at apache dot org) > Nandana Mihindukulasooriya (nandana at apache dot org) > Andy Seaborne (andy at apache dot org) > > = Sponsoring Entity > > Apache Incubator PMC > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org > > >
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