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To: announce@www.opennms.org
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 12:24:50 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [opennms-announce] OpenNMS Update v1.38
================
OpenNMS Update
================
Vol 1., Issue 38
================
In this week's installment...
* Project Status
+ Release Notes
+ Interesting Web Resources
+ Coding Projects Underway
* Bugs in Documentation
* The Wish List
* Afterthoughts...
==============
Project Status
==============
Release Notes:
So far, the feedback on the 0.4.0 "Testdrive" release has been good,
but limited.
We've noted almost 1000 downloads to date (which we find encouraging)
and numerous bug reports as well as emails back to me pointing out
other "unanticipated behaviors".
If you have any feedback you can provide on the product, please drop
me a line and let me know. Or fill out a bug report. Or email the
"Discussion" list. Anywhere is fine with me, but at this stage,
FEEDBACK IS CRITICAL!
On the list of more "major" bugs, we've already addressed the
following oft reported bugs in CVS, and a 0.4.1 release should be en
route by the end of the week (Watch this space!) The more significant
ones include:
* No "calendar.xml" or "onetime.xml" files
FIX: Get these files from CVS or an earlier release.
* RPM Install throws all kinds of errors about not finding a JDK 1.3
FIX: If you are using the IBM JDK, our pattern match to verify the
version was close, but not quite right. It's now fixed and new
RPMs of version 0.4.1 will be available later this week.
* Confusing Install Process
FIX: We're working on better, cleaner documentation and the doc
(including the Quick Start Guide) will be revved in 0.4.1 as well.
Look for more info there, and they are available in CVS as well.
Interesting Web Resources:
As we get fired back up on building the distributed architecture, SOAP
once again rears its head.
One of our main problems with SOAP (so far) is a distinct vacuum
occuring everywhere you would expect there to be documentation.
While there doesn't appear to be much underway to address this
problem, Doug passed along an interesting link to a new SOAP book
hitting the shelves. I haven't read it yet (but it's on my list of
things to do--maybe), but if any of you have and can provide some
feedback or a review, it would be appreciated.
The details can be found at:
http://emarketplace.techtarget.com/main/0672319225.html
To date, my favorite is still Brett McLaughlin's Java & XML published
by O'Reilly (gods of all books technical)
For those of you interested in the source of this info, check out
http://www.searchxmlresources.com
Thanks, Doug!
Coding Projects Underway:
Still wrapping our brains around the distributed stuff again. Efforts
are underway, specifically around the servlet-based receivers for some
of this stuff, but I haven't made it to the office yet this week to
give you any more details than that (I've been on the road, not just
lazy)...
* Maji Prelim Work -- Rick is a ctive on the "events" mailing list.
* MIB Compiler -- Things are looking good with the MICA stuff.
Interesting question has been posed about JavaCC and what exactly
is entailed with Metamata's intermediate "license".
* Distributed Architecture -- Weave is back amongst those of us with
a door in that big hole in the back of our homes, and the
contractors have left. Detailed design work is well underway.
=========================
Bugs in the Documentation
=========================
We are aware of a few points in which our documentation is either
wrong, misleading, confusing, or just weak. We've addressed most of
these, per your input. But I just wanted to call out a few points for
clarification.
Bugzilla is being used to track bugs and enhancement requests as they
are found and registered. We consider typos and documentation problems
to be "bugs" as well, but we've set aside one specific bug-- Bug #100
-- to track those issues specifically. If you find one register it
there. It helps to keep down the noise-level and administration
overhead for typographical errors, and it keeps our bug counts
manageable when our worst enemy is our own fat fingers. Thanks for
your help in this pursuit.
Next, OpenNMS is building a big product. And a product that is capable
of managing large IT infrastructures is going to be a fairly complex
tool. Thus its configuration can get complex as well. We've done what
we can to simplify the process (and my kudos to Steve for much of the
high-level design that has gone into that effort). But we DO have a
need to address the complexity, and we've attempted to address it with
a barrage of documentation, not the least of which is the Quick Start
guide.
I won't deny anybody the right to bitch if they want, but please don't
complain about the complexity of the product if you obviously haven't
read at least the Quick Start guide. This weapon in our documentation
arsenal goes a long way toward helping you not only sort out what you
need to do, but should provide some insights as to how the product is
actually going to work. It's worth a read.
Remember, there is very little difference between someone who won't
read and someone who can't.
=============
The Wish List
=============
Testing continues. Keep up the good work!
We've still got some other stuff that we'd like you to consider as
places you might be able to help us along:
* Custom pollers -- You can now see how they are supposed to work
(and do). And you've got some templates for how you can create
your own. Modifying out TCP pollers to check new services is not
brain-surgery, and should be an easy way for you to contribute, as
well as solving needs for your own environment. Some things to
consider might be: ssh, LDAP, Application-specific hooks.
* Migration Tools -- Have access to one of the network management
frameworks proffered by the big boys? You can see their DB and
configs and ours too. How about a series of Perl scripts to
convert things over?
* Alternative User Interfaces -- Want to build a map? How about a
Web interface? VT100? GTK? What's your bag?
* Wildcard -- What don't we have that you want/need?
================
Afterthoughts...
================
First off - trip to Pittsburgh is off. So no Penguins jersey.
Many thanks for the answers to my "What's a Bruin?" question.
Apparently, it's a male bear, a brown bear, and most importantly, the
Brown University Interactive Language, a language for IBM 360
environment with a PL/1 syntax (I've actually done PL/1, for those of
you that thought this was funny and obscure...it's really tragically
sad).
The responses on maps were good and reasonably consistent. Most of you
said "Maps suck", but there were some good arguments on behalf of
maps, most of which argued that with maps you can at least manage
multiple screens, which is impossible trying to manage from an event
browser. Of course, there were the "they make management happy"
reasons too, but for the most part, no real compelling arguments on
the need for a topologically-organized map vs. another graphical
representation. Many thanks to those of you that responded.
We've been getting some good press lately, and Network World has
featured us a couple of times (once in an open source article, once in
a Linux editorial), not to mention the rest of the press coverage
around the Testdrive release. Consider all of this ammunition as you
begin to lay the groundwork in your organizations for deploying
OpenNMS to manage your infrastructure. Managers like to think that
they can justify decisions, and articles in trade rags certainly help
them along that path.
Slainte!
Shane O.
========
Shane O'Donnell
OpenNMS.org
shaneo@opennms.org
==================
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