[Cmake] Re: [Dart] cDart anybody?

[Amitha Perera]

On Thu 12 Sep 2002, Blezek, Daniel J (Research) wrote:
> 1. Write a real server in Java (or Python?)
>    - use XML-RPC as the connection layer (only... no more FTP/Perl hacks)
>    - don't require the server to have a checkout of the source code
>    - eliminate cron, have the server do the roll-ups, perhaps as
>    results come in

I think a dedicated server is a bad idea. In some contexts, including
mine, the server is but a minor process on a machine that does
something else.

Right now, there are times of power failure and such when the Dart
server isn't running. However, our department web server and ftp
server have battery backups are nearly always running. (My machine is
not so privileged.) I don't want to try to run the Dart server on a
"department" server, because the administrative hassle is not worth
the effort. I'm sure other groups would have similar situations.

My solution has been to run a cron that checks the FTP incoming
directory and moves files as it finds them. Esstentially, it does a
fake "http trigger" for those files on which the real trigger
failed. This could be incorporated into the Dart server.

I agree with Ken(?) that using standard ports are essential. It's hard
(administrative overhead) to punch holes in firewalls.

>      Java would be my first choice, but distribution is a pain,
>      i.e. no binaries, only JVM

My gut reaction is that Java is *less* portable than Perl or Python. A
case in point: FreeBSD hasn't had a JVM 'till very recently, and even
now the JVM is flaky. Not to mention really hard to install.

> 3. Rewrite the configuration files to be in XML
>    - using the tags, we can break out commands and arguments, no more guessing about spaces!
>    - much more flexibility than a "flat" file

This should be extensible though. Some kind of version number is
crucial for backward compatibility as Dart evolves.

Amitha.