[saga-rg] some principle comments on SAGA

[alexander.beck-ratzka]

Hello SAGA developers,

first of all: I am not taking part in developing SAGA, but I try to distribute 
GAT within the german D-Grid community project, and therefore I know about 
the SAGA efforts, and - as I feel - I also see some problems in the 
realisation...

Okay, let's start with the problems of GAT.

As GAT has started, it missed a lot of adaptors to the mostly ditributed grid 
middleware products. This is - at least in Germany - a fundamental reason for 
the very low acceptance of GAT in the Grid Community.

As far as I know SAGA seems to inherit this deficiency of GAT. So Andre statet 
recently in a Email to me: "... we can definitively support only some 
adaptors, and we need the help of those projects, which have to develop AND 
SUPPORT adaptors to their middleware..."

Please dont understand me wrong: I know about the small personel resources in 
the SAGA project, and that therefore only the development of a "SAGA Engine" 
and some local adaptors is possible. However, the missing of adaptors to 
Globus, Unicore or Condor etc.., is an urgent problem. The acceptance of 
software increases with its possibilities ot use it. If SAGA delivers now 
only an engine without a connection to any grid middleware, I would also not 
use SAGA to access e.g. Globus grdi functionality. Why should I develop an 
adaptor to my grid middleware (and even support it later on) for enabling the 
usage of SAGA; in such a case it's easier to develop directly against the 
middleware API. If I develop an adaptor, I'll have to possible regions where 
problems can arise: SAGA and the access to the middleware API. Developing 
diretyl against the middleware will only bring problems with the middleware 
API. I believe that such preconditions will not lead to a wide acceptance of 
SAGA!

How to get rid of this problem? I like to suggest to deliver a SAGA toolkit. 
Beside the engine there also should be delivered a set of adaptors to the 
mostly distributed Grid middleware, as Globus, Unicore, Condor, etc... But 
how can this bed realised with the restricted resources? I have had the idea 
that the CCT should increase its support of the SAGA development, in Germany, 
there is no money available (at least right now). I don't know, if this is 
possible, but I'm quite shure that it must be a SAGA toolkit instead of a 
SAGA engine with local adaptors, if SAGA should be successful.

I hope, you understand my words as a helpful comment. I want SAGA to be 
successful, and therefore we have to think about a SAGA toolkit.

Cheers

Alexander