+1 On Thu, Dec 14, 2017 at 3:19 PM Justin Mclean <jus...@classsoftware.com> wrote:
> Hi All, > > I would like to start a VOTE to propose the PLC4X project as a podling > into the Apache incubator. > > The ASF voting rules are described: > > https://www.apache.org/foundation/voting.html < > https://www.apache.org/foundation/voting.html> > > A vote for accepting a new Apache Incubator podling is a majority vote for > which only Incubator PMC member votes are binding. > > This vote will run for at least 72 hours. Please VOTE as follows > [] +1 Accept PLC4X into the Apache Incubator > [] +0 Abstain. > [] -1 Do not accept PLC4X into the Apache Incubator because ... > > The proposal is listed below, but you can view it on the wiki: > https://wiki.apache.org/incubator/PLC4XProposal > > = PLC4XProposal = > > == Abstract == > > PLC4X is intended to become a set of libraries for communicating with > industrial programmable logic controllers (PLCs) using a variety of > protocols > but with a shared API. > > For the most used of these protocols, PLC4X will provide implementations of > drivers. Each protocol driver is hereby provided by an individual artifact. > > In a first step, we are concentrating on Java but will be hoping to be > able to > port implementation to C and other languages. > > == Background == > > Industrial machines have been controlled by PLCs for more than 30 years. In > simpler pieces of machinery these may operate autonomously, in more complex > ones several to hundreds of these industrial computers communicate with > each > other. > > == Rationale == > > Currently software for communicating with PLCs is mainly proprietary > software > and a whole ecosystem of closed-source solutions exist. Usually this > software > is very expensive and licensing implies a lot of restrictions on its usage. > There is a small set of open-source libraries available, but unfortunately > most > of these are GPL licensed and hereby disqualify themselves from commercial > use. > Most of these are direct ports from C/C++ implementations and therefore > inherit > their API. Usually these are implemented blocking socket operations and > have > great problems with concurrency. Also, the APIs of these tools differ > quite a > lot, so porting a software from communicating with one type of PLC to > another > sometimes requires re-writing a great part of the software. > > There are multiple rationales behind this project: > > 1. By providing libraries with Apache license, it will be possible to > create > commercial applications which access PLCs > 2. By providing a universal API for different protocols, it reduces the > vendor > lock-in when creating software > 3. Most of the proprietary commercial solutions are based on Windows > systems, > especially the Siemens solutions, sometimes require maintaining un-patched > versions of older Windows version in order to run, this is a huge security > risk > (See Stuxnet) > 4. Most of the proprietary commercial solutions don't scale. Running them > in > public/private clouds and/or in containers is completely out of the > question. > > As a result of above, it would be possible to start writing secure, > scalable > and reliable software using the full stack of open-source solutions and > hereby > open a complete new market for developers. In order to make this even > easier, > we are planning on directly providing adapters and examples for using PLC4X > together with other Apache frameworks. > > == Initial Goals == > > Develop a universal API for accessing industrial programmable logic > controllers > in a protocol-agnostic way. Also implement Java versions of drivers for the > most prominent protocols: S7, Modbus and OPC-UA - but not limited to > those. On > the side of the adapters, for existing OS solutions, we are currently > working > on adapters for: Apache Edgent (incubating), Apache Camel and eventually > even > Apache Brooklyn. > > Also, we will be providing a Scala wrapper to ease integration of PLC4X in > Scala based systems with an API Scala developers should easily adopt. > > As soon as a C version exists, we are planning on providing an Apache > Mynewt > adapter as we see great benefits on this combination. > > == Current Status == > > === Meritocracy === > > PLC4X was initially created by Christofer Dutz. He is an Apache Member and > also > involved in a variety of Apache and Non-Apache Open-Source projects. Being > PMC > of the Apache Flex, Apache Kibble and the Apache Travel Assistance he > definitely knows how Apache works and is a strong advocate of the Apache > Way. > He is also currently helping the Apache Edgent project as member of the > PPMC. > However, the team working on PLC4X also includes a diverse set of > additional > Apache Committers and Members as well as people, that are not yet > affiliated > with any Apache project. The team working on PLC4X are both working for > codecentric as well as other entities, such as commercial companies as > well as > universities. > > === Community === > > Currently the PLC4X community exists out of a set of core developers > working on > a private code repository provided by codecentric (the company Christofer > Dutz > is working for). However, the set of developers, working on PLC4X is not > limited to codecentric employees as we are also inviting outside > contributors. > > The main reason for using a private repo instead of a public one, is that > we > were planning on starting incubation at Apache within a few weeks after > initiating the project. Therefore, we wanted to start writing everything > with > Apache package names and Apache Maven coordinates. Even our logo is > directly > designed including the Apache Feather and "Apache" inside the name. As only > real Apache projects are allowed to use "Apache", we decided to go down the > private repository path. > > === Core Developers === > > (In alphabetical order) > > * Benedikt Ritter (codecentric) (Apache Member) > * Christofer Dutz (codecentric) (Apache Member) > * Dale LaBossiere (IBM) (PPMC Member of the Apache Edgent incubator > podling) > * Frank Stibane (codecentric) > * Greg Trasuk (Web Age Solutions) (Apache Member) > * Justin McLean (External) (Apache Member) > * Kai Herings (codecentric) > * Lukas Friedrichsen (Hochschule Bochum) > * Mark Keinhörster (codecentric) > * Rolf Felker (codecentric) > * Sebastian Rühl (codecentric) > > === Alignment === > > The build system is based on Apache Maven. Also, it uses Apache Edgent > (incubating) and Apache Camel libraries for providing adapters to these > systems. Being a full-blown Apache enthusiast, for Christofer there hasn't > been > any thought in bringing this project into any other collaboration platform > or > foundation. This idea is shared by a big majority of the core contributors. > > === Project Name === > > As we know that renaming a codebase can be a huge pain, we have invested > quite > a lot of time into finding a suitable name. In the end, we came up with a > list > of about 20 project names, which we did the fully required background > checks > for. On the options surviving these checks, we internally voted on the > name. It > was a pretty close tie between PLC4J and PLC4X, but we decided to go for > the > later as we are planning on providing libraries for multiple languages > beyond > Java. > > PLC4X has no registered trademarks that we could find and the only > potential > problem would be a hardware LPT Breakout Board by a Russian Company called > Purelogic (https://purelogic.ru/doc/PDF/Controller/PLC4x.pdf) English > version > (http://www.zappautomation.co.uk/productattachments/index/download?id=99) > But we don't see any problems to arise from this. If there would be > problems, > we would probably fallback to using PLC4J, which had no conflicts at all > and > would eventually name our sub-products PLC4S (Scala) and PLC4C (C/C++). > > == Known Risks == > > === Orphaned projects === > > PLC4X is a new Project, which has just been started. The feedback from the > industry has been overwhelming so the risk of the project being orphaned is > minimal. > > === Inexperience with Open Source === > > The set of core developers of this project consists of a large set of > experienced open-source developers, most of these even being Apache > Members. > > === Homogeneous Developers === > > Even if a big part of the projects initial committer team is affiliated > with > codecentric, we have been successful and continuing to be in actively > recruiting people from other commercial and non-commercial entities. > > === Reliance on Salaried Developers === > > Currently only Christofer Dutz is being paid to work on this project > exclusively. > > === Relationships with Other Apache Products === > > PLC4X makes great used of Apache Maven for the build system and Apache > Commons > for providing a lot of basic functionality. > > Also does it currently have direct relations to the Apache Camel and Apache > Edgent projects as it provides modules for direct integration of PLC4X into > these frameworks. > > In the future we are planning on also adding such modules for Apache > Brooklyn > and as soon as a C-based version of PLC4X is available Apache Mynewt. > > Currently there is no competing project at the Apache Software Foundation. > > === An Excessive Fascination with the Apache Brand === > > We are certain that PLC4X itself will profit from being an official Apache > project, in terms of attracting a community and establishing a solid group > of > developers and users, but also to ease the interaction with other Apache > projects, used in PLC4X or project PLC4X provides adapters for as all will > share the same base. > > Our general belief in the Apache way as well as the reasons mentioned > above are > the main reasons for us to send this proposal. We think that a good > community > is needed to build and maintain good software, such as PLC4X. Also do we > need a > big community to support a big variety of systems. However, even if PLC4X > would > not be accepted, development would definitely continue elsewhere. Apache is > just our primary foundation of choice. As such, there is no need to, or > reason > to, "abuse" the Apache Brand. > > === Possibility of legal actions === > > Some of the protocols are not publicly defined. Existing open-source > implementations contain licensing restrictions. To avoid licensing issues > we > made sure the license of information used to implement drivers in PLC4X are > compatible with the Apache license and added references to these sources > in the > project documentation to prove this. This documentation is part of the > codebase. We are therefore not expecting any real problems on this side. > > === Test setup could require hardware === > > A test-suite for PLC4X could involve tests run against virtual or real > hardware. It could be problematic to include these in automated builds run > on > build.apache.org, but Apache infra have already signaled that there > should be > options to work this out. > > == Documentation == > > Currently all documentation and information is stored alongside the code > in a > private corporate GIT repository and is available as part of the website > which > is generated as part of the build. > > == Initial Source == > > Development of PLC4X started at codecentric in October of 2017. The source > currently is located on a private corporate GIT repository. All the code is > available at https://gitlab.codecentric.de/iot/plc4x (Accounts can be > created > on a request basis) > > == Source and Intellectual Property Submission Plan == > > PLC4X is currently mainly developed by, but not limited to, codecentric > employees. However, all code has been developed completely from scratch it > was > ensured from the start that each document is already fully licensed under > the > Apache 2.0 license. All source will be donated to Apache without any > exceptions. > > == External Dependencies == > > * Apache Commons-IO, Apache License 2.0 > * Apache Edgent, Apache License 2.0 > * Netty, Apache License 2.0 > * Metrics Core, Apache License 2.0 > * Google Gson, Apache License 2.0 > > These sources can be included, according to > http://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html > > * Logback, EPL 1.0 > > This source can NOT be included, according to > http://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html > > == Cryptography == > > Not applicable. > > == Required Resources == > > === Mailing Lists === > > * plc4x-dev > * plc4x-private > > === Git Repository === > > https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator-plc4x.git > > === Issue Tracking === > > JIRA PLC4X > > === Confluence Wiki === > > To be able to provide help, documentation, faq etc, a wiki is needed. > > == Initial Committers == > > (In alphabetical order) > > * Benedikt Ritter (brit...@apache.org) > * Christofer Dutz (cd...@apache.org) > * Dale LaBossiere (dlab...@apache.org) > * Frank Stibane (frank.stib...@codecentric.de) > * Greg Trasuk (gtra...@apache.org) > * Justin McLean (jmcl...@apache.org) > * Kai Herings (kai.heri...@codecentric.de) > * Lukas Friedrichsen (friedrichsen....@googlemail.com) > * Mark Keinhörster (mark.keinhoers...@codecentric.de) > * Rolf Felker (rolf.fel...@codecentric.de) > * Sebastian Rühl (sebastian.ru...@codecentric.de) > > == Affiliations == > > Currently most of the initial committers are employees of codecentric. > Currently Christofer Dutz is the only contributor paid to work on PLC4X > full-time. The others participate as part of their so-called "+1 time" (At > codecentric employees get to spend 20% of their time to work on > open-source, > education, etc. and they invest a lot of this time on the project). > > Besides these we also have contributors from companies other than > codecentric > (Dale, Greg, Justin) as well as universities (Lukas). > > == Sponsors == > > === Champion === > > * Justin McLean > > === Nominated Mentors === > > (In alphabetical order) > > * Greg Trasuk > * Justin McLean > * Luciano Resende > * Stefan Bodewig > > === Sponsoring Entity === > > PLC4X is a new project and proposed is to release to code under the > sponsorship > of the Incubator. > > Thanks, > Justin Mclean -- Sent from my Mobile device
