Re: ODE Summary Report #1


Greg Ferguson (gferg@hoop.timonium.sgi.com)
Wed, 12 Jan 2000 12:18:01 -0500


On Jan 12, 8:54am, Aaron Turner wrote:
> Subject: Re: ODE Summary Report #1
> On Tue, 11 Jan 2000, Paul M. Foster wrote:
>
> ...
> Maybe some other group would be interested in a local document
> retrieval engine like you describe, but I personally find that
> a much harder and less powerful solution. You either end up
> requiring the user to install a ton of support programs to power
> the features you want or give them a simple/stripped down/barely
> useful at all system that is easy to install.
> Maybe I'm over simplifying things, but that's how I see it- I can
> build a much more complicated system on a dedicated server than
> try to make the same system work on the 10 million different Linux
> systems around the world.
> ...

I'll re-iterate my point on this again -

   A local solution does not require the entire engine, as you describe
   it. "It" should work with whatever content is at it's disposal
   on one's local machine.

   Yes, it may obviously be a less powerful solution, but I (and others)
   my still find it extremely useful.

   If we are looking into building this, why not create it in a scalable
   manner to allow for a local capability (using a shared code base,
   etc.)? Again, it doesn't need all the bells and whistles of the master
   site, but I think something lightweight and powerful can still be
   created.

   What about those in a closed/Internet-disabled environment? We (SGI)
   run into this situation all the time (secure sites/installations),
   especially within certain branches of the gov't. we sell h/w to.

   If we can't do this, I think we're shooting ourselves in the foot
   right from the start. A well-thoughtout, scaleable architecture
   should provide for this, IMO. Perhaps this is not the group to
   provide such a solution, but it seems like the logical home to me.

regards,

-- 
Greg Ferguson     - s/w engr / mtlhd         | gferg@sgi.com
SGI Tech Pubs     - http://techpubs.sgi.com  | 410-785-2334 
Linux Doc Project - http://www.linuxdoc.org  |



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