+1 Niall
On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 3:15 AM, Ian Holsman <li...@holsman.net> wrote: > Given the lack of response on the proposal, I'll assume lazy consensus and > call a vote. > > I'd like to propose incubation for a new project called the Spatial > Information Systems (SIS). I think we have all the > necessary bits in place for the proposal to go forward. note. Both Patrick& > Chris are comitters in the lucene/hadoop projects. > > Proposal: http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/SpatialProposal > > [] +1. Accept SIS into the Incubator. > [] 0. Don't care. > [] -1. Do not accept (and why.) > > > Thanks > Ian Holsman Champion of the SIS. > > > ------ Wiki Text Copied Below ----- > > > > On behalf of the locallucene, localsolr communities, JPL, and myself, I > present an Apache Spatial incubator Proposal. > Apache Spatial will be a toolkit, allowing spatial data to be represented > and queried in multitude of implementing technologies. > > The proposal ishttp://wiki.apache.org/incubator/SpatialProposal > and I have included a text version of the proposal below. > I appreciate any feedback and discussion. > > Thanks > Patrick O'Leary / Chris Mattmann / Sean McCleese / Paul Ramirez / Ben Lewis > > ------------------ > > Apache SIS, A toolkit for constructing spatial information systems. > > Abstract > > Spatial information systems (SIS) (akin to Geographic Information Systems, > or GIS) are rapidly growing as information has taken on a sense of location. > This location context has allowed people to start exploring different ways > of searching, clustering, and displaying information. Spatial queries such > as: > > * point-radius, e.g., show me all objects within X miles of point P, > typically a lat/lon; > * bounding box, e.g., show me all objects within a box defined by south, > east, north, west bounding coordinates; and > * polygon, an extension of bounding box to arbitrary shapes defined by > arbitrary points > > are becoming a part of everyday life, where some combination of the above is > used to find a restaurant, determine sites of interest for climate research, > for data reduction and subsetting, or demographic profiling, social > networking, and a host of other applications. There exist a number of > libraries, and frameworks written in Java, C/C++, and other P/Ls that deal > with the aforementioned issues, however the one consistent homogeneity is > that most of these software do not include ASF-friendly licensing. On the > contrary, most of these software systems and tools are LGPL licensed, as > their use is primarily to produce GIS software, which is then sold for a > profit. What's more, even the standards organization the Open Geospatial > Consortium (OGC) promotes the use of LGPL SIS/GIS software to implements its > interfaces and specifications, leaving those interested in a more > ASL-friendly solution with a major hole to fill, or having to deal with the > license implications of leveraging LGPL open source software in their > applications. > > We propose to construct Apache SIS, an ASL 2.0 licensed toolkit that spatial > information system builders or users can leverage to support the > aforementioned activities, alleviating much of the software and potentially > legal difficulties in implementing SIS/GIS systems. This project will look > to expand on those concepts and serve as a place to store reference > implementations of spatial algorithms, utilities, services, etc. as well as > serve as a sandbox to explore new ideas. Further, the goal is to have Apache > SIS grow into a thriving Apache top-level community, where a host of SIS/GIS > related software (OGC datastores, REST-ful interfaces, data standards, etc.) > can grow from and thrive under the Apache umbrella. > > Proposal > > The Internet is changing to the "local world" wide web, where information no > longer exists in a digital vapor, but contains real world context. From news > stories to tweets, location is a very powerful concern, evidenced by the > proliferation of popular websites offering geo-referenced information for > all relevant content (Flickr, Twitter, Google Maps, etc). Besides the social > utility of spatial data, there are also national interest related uses of > prime importance. For example, from a national policy perspective, and > federal agency perspective (e.g., NASA, NOAA, DoD), global climate concerns > have underscored the importance of science data collected about our planet, > all of which is location based. So-called "operational" and "actionable" > data including climate models, weather forecasts as well as scientific, > "offline" data (measurements of CO2 in the atmosphere, measurements of sea > surface temperature, etc.) all provide some sense of where the data was > created, where currently resides, and/or what it references. These are just > a sampling of the spatially relevant information available -- the list is > growing as scientists, policy-makers and decision makers develop new > downstream activities that leverage spatial data. As we move forward there > is also no reason to restrict the focus of SIS/GIS to just this planet as a > point of reference; other sciences (astrophysics, planetary science) have > been collecting information about our universe and other celestial bodies > for years, information that could be "spatial"-enabled. There has been a > growing recent interest in data collected about the Earth's moon as in the > case of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, its Lunar CRater Observation > and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) and its Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project > (LMMP), as well as Google Moon and other such projects. Spatial data can > offer substantial value added for consumers of data through the use of > location-rich metadata, as well as through the use of layering, allowing > users of spatial data to explore layers of data (points of interest, > elevation and other parameters) in an interactive fashion. What's more, the > algorithms that drive SIS/GIS can be leveraged to represent data which is > not just geographical based, such as bio-informatics, fingerprints search, > facial search etc., providing substantial reuse benefits if an ASF-friendly > software system that provided SIS/GIS functionality existed. Apache SIS will > provide a manner in which spatial data such as that described above can be > represented and used with existing technologies. The proposed founders of > Apache SIS all have relevant and experience either developing spatial > software that can easily perform the above tasks, or have experience working > on the domains containing the georeferenced data of interest. We will > leverage this experience and data expertise to deliver an Apache SIS system > of use to a broad community of interest, making Apache an ideal home for > this important software. > > Background > > There are several projects of different spatial capabilities available > today, the two most common are: > > * GeoTools > * PostGIS > > Apache SIS goal is not aiming to compete with these tools but, instead, to > provide a spatial framework that enables better representation of > coordinates for searching, data clustering, archiving, or any other relevant > spatial needs. By developing a toolkit framework that is independent of > underlying implementation we hope to also reduce duplication of both > software and effort with a published interface which other software projects > can simply tie it into their own frameworks. The initial concept behind > Apache SIS comes from LocalLucene, an extension to Apache Lucene that > provided a Geographical filter on top of the Lucene search library. > LocalLucene went on to become LocalSolr, and has since been included in many > frameworks from Spring to Hibernate, to Hbase, and to Compass. The > LocalLucene framework has also been contributed to Apache Lucene under the > moniker "Spatial Lucene", and currently exists as a contrib module within > the Lucene project, version 2.9 and later. From January 2009-Dec 2009, while > working on building out spatial capabilities in Apache SOLR for oceans-data > and lunar-data related projects at NASA JPL, Chris Mattmann stumbled across > LocalLucene and LocalSOLR, and eventually discussed its limitations and > benefits with Patrick O'Leary, along with the rest of the proposed > committers in this effort. The consensus was there was a significant lack of > a generic spatial data focused library out there in Apache land, and if > present, such a library would present a unique contribution to the folks who > were working with GIS data, that weren't only interested in search. In other > words, there are a host of activities besides search (visualization, data > reduction, statistical analysis) where a generic SIS/GIS library would be of > prime importance. Both Chris, and Patrick, as well as the other committers > had been stung by the issues in dealing with LGPL libraries and there was a > difficult time finding any SIS library that was useful, and also ASL > licensed. From these conversations, Patrick and Chris approached Ian > Holsman, and asked for his support in championing this proposal and helping > to get this effort started. From there, we all agreed that the general > community at large would be best served by establishing a top level project > that focused primarily on solving spatial problems including search, > visualization, data reduction and the aforementioned use cases. > > * Apache SIS will also be the first known spatial project of this nature > to be licensed under Apache License v2.0, the vast majority of other GIS > projects are LGPL. Further Apache SIS will be the first known (to our > knowledge) Apache top level project focused on implementing spatial > standards, and focused on building an Apache-based community in this > thriving area. > > Initial Goals > > * The initial goals of the proposed project are: > * Viable community around the Apache SIS codebase > * Active relationships and possible cooperation with related projects > and communities such as OGC > * Provide a geo-spatial coordinate system, with planetary plugins. > * Provide a polygon and line string coordinate comparison system. > * Build a Java framework to start out, but look to develop other P/L > support (Python, Ruby, as a start). > > Current Status > > Meritocracy > > All the initial committers are familiar with the meritocracy principles of > Apache, and have already worked on the various source code bases (incl. > Lucene Contrib, Tika, Nutch, and SOLR), providing issue comments, patches, > and in some cases, committing (O'Leary& Mattmann) and participating as PMC > members (Mattmann). We will follow the normal meritocracy rules also with > other potential contributors. > > Community > > That Apache SIS community will be a co-mingling of several other communities > that depend on Spatial& Geo Spatial solutions for their projects, the > expectation is there will be members from the original LocalLucene project, > the strong LocalSolr project, as well as Compass, Lucene and Solr at very > early if not immediate stages. We will also look to garner support and > contributions from other projects that are working in spatial, e.g., > PostGIS, and other OGC efforts as well. There is already a growing number of > folks at NASA who are also interested in spatial systems and work in the > area. We will approach those people as well and attempt to bring them into > the Apache SIS community. The idea would be for Apache SIS to grow into a > top-level project that allows for sub projects based on SIS focus > (visualization, data reduction/algorithms, OGC standards, etc.) > > Core Developers > > The initial developers come from a diverse set of backgrounds ranging from > software architecture, search, academic, research/practice, to data mining. > All of the proposed initial developers require the functionality of Apache > SIS (Ramirez - LMMP, McCleese - oceans data, Mattmann -lunar/oceans, O'Leary > - local search) in a compatible way. > > Alignment > > Existing Apache projects currently rely on the proposed starting point for > Apache SIS, such as Lucene and Solr. We will begin by refactoring the > LocalLucene contribution into a library independent of any underlying > substrate (e.g., independent of Lucene). We will then look to add in > functionality for calculating distances, functionality for persisting > spatial data (to DBMS'es, search indexes, key/value stores, to Hadoop/etc.) > We will follow by then focusing on data models and export of spatial data, > culminating in an initial release that includes all of the basic > functionality to at a minimum compute on spatial data, and store/export it. > > Known Risks > > Orphaned products > > Several projects currently contain implementations of the initial code basis > for Apache SIS, these projects can continue with the existing code base > without impact, or adopt Apache SIS and reap the benefits of a common code > base. Our goal is to provide value-added, shared ASL-licensed spatial > software that is easy to adapt and adopt in any of the existing Apache (and > external communities) developing SIS/GIS. Our initial focus will be on > building a Java library but we will look at means for extending the Java > library into additional P/Ls and frameworks. > > Inexperience with Open Source > > All the initial developers have worked on open source before and many are > committers (O'Leary, Mattmann) and PMC members (Mattmann) within other > Apache projects. McCleese and Ramirez are recent Apache committers on the > soon to be initiated OODT project that was accepted into the Incubator. > > Homogenous Developers > > The initial developers come from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety > of needs for the proposed toolkit. Further, the developers consist of folks > from at least two widely diverse companies, AT&T Interactive and NASA's Jet > Propulsion Laboratory, spanning industry and government/research. > > Relationships with Other Apache Products > > Apache SIS is related to the following projects, non of the projects are > direct competitors, but contain some functionality provided by Apache SIS > > * Lucene Java, contains Spatial Lucene. We will look to leverage this > code, combined with updates present at Local Lucene at Sourceforge as a > starting point for the refactoring activity. > * Apache Solr, uses functionality from Spatial Lucene and may have some > inspiration for how to perform some of the spatial computations we would > like to have present in Apache SIS. Once Apache SIS matures, Solr could rely > on SIS as a library component. > * Apache HBase - can index spatial reference id's and incorporate SIS > query methodology to extend it to providing Spatial services once Apache SIS > matures. > > Initial Source > > Apache SIS is an amalgamation of Spatial Lucene, and LocalSolr components. > > * Spatial Lucene contains the original Spatial Coordinate system > * LocalSolr provides polygon and line string builders and comparator > features. > * Local Lucene at Sourceforge contains a number of updates that we will > merge into Apache SIS > > The above code sources will serve as a basis for a fundamental > generalization and refactoring activity that will result in an Apache SIS > system focused on: spatial computation, and spatial data storage/export to > start out. Activities such as visualization, reduction, and standards will > occur downstream of this initial activity once the code base becomes stable. > > Source and Intellectual Property Submission Plan > > All seed code and other contributions will be handled through the normal > Apache contribution process. > > We will also contact other related efforts for possible cooperation and > contributions. Local Lucene is ASL-licensed, as is the other code bases > (Local SOLR, and Spatial Lucene). All proposed committers have CLAs on file > and are familiar with the code contribution process in Apache. > > External Dependencies > > At the moment, we will build Apache SIS so that is has no external > dependencies, and is self contained. If we do require common dependencies, > such as libraries for computation, or for storage/persistence, we will > ensure that they leverage an ASL or compatible license. For example, to > support persistence, we may leverage other libraries (e.g., Derby, K/V > stores, etc.), and in these cases, we will focus on those libraries with a > compatible license. > > Cryptography > > There is no cryptography required in Apache SIS at present time. > > Required Resources > > * Mailing lists > *sis-...@incubator.apache.org > *sis-u...@incubator.apache.org > *sis-comm...@incubator.apache.org > *sis-priv...@incubator.apache.org > > Subversion Directory > > *https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/sis > > Issue Tracking > > * JIRA SIS (SIS) > > Other Resources > > none > > Initial Committers > > Name | Email Institution CLA > > Patrick O'Leary | pjaol at apache dot org | AT&T Interactive| yes > Chris A. Mattmann|mattmann at apache dot org| NASA Jet Propulsion > Laboratory|yes > Sean McCleese| smcclees at jpl dot nasa dot gov| NASA Jet Propulsion > Laboratory|yes > Paul Ramirez| pramirez at jpl dot nasa dot gov|NASA Jet Propulsion > Laboratory|yes > > Sponsors > > * Champion > * Ian Holsman (ianh at apache dot org) > > Nominated Mentors > > * Ian Holsman (ianh at apache dot org) > > Sponsoring Entity > > * Apache Incubator > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org
