2023-07-31 - Platform & Application Formalization

Craig McNally will take notes

Vince

Background:

• A presentation of this information has been given at a summit meeting in June 2023 at University of Chicago.
  • See https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W1Pknn84cNd8esuv2BCzYXZunnZ66jNb9gQOhvSiQ78/edit?usp=sharing
• The purpose of this discussion is to share with a wider audience, specifically the Technical Council.
• This is the first of a series sessions.  Additional dedicated discussions will likely be required to get through all of the information.  
• There are several WOLFcon sessions planned which will touch on these topics.  
• Today's presentation is a continuation of 2023-07-17 - Application Formalization
• Link to slide deck:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/146lQx8CjFzAAacKnvhiiJPt6LIUd3aAIxSmQ1Q6xtHc/edit?usp=sharing

Notes:

• A recap/summary of the previous session was provided.  No new questions
• Questions raised at the last session were reviewed and discussed
  • It was acknowledged that we may need a transition period where we start with larger applications, and once we break apart the dependencies, refine these large applications into smaller, more ideal applications
  • Reiterated that applications are versioned.  If a module gets a version bump, so does it's application
  • The goal here is to bring the TC up to speed on technical topics discussed at University of Chicago a month or two ago.  WOLFcon will be a good opportunity for others to weigh in on both technical and non-technical aspects of these things.
    • The non-technical aspects do need to be considered when formulating technical designs
    • The introduction of applications requires a shift in how the project thinks about releases and related processes
• An overview/introduction of the formalization of "platforms" was given
• The "Platform" is the stack, e.g. Folio Core + Folio LSP + Folio LSP Extended = platform
• We need to be careful about expanding the scope of this proposal, e.g. what goes into the extended tier?  
• The idea is that this will help simplify the release process.  Most of the modules being introduced lately are specialized, on the fringe, etc. 
• Extended Tier applications are confirmed to be compatible with a particular Platform/Platform version.
  
  • Bugfest tests Folio Core + Folio LSP 
  • Confirming compatibility falls upon the development teams providing the extended tier applications
    • How exactly does all of this work?  Probably deserves a dedicated discussion
• Note that an application may belong to multiple platforms, but a given module can only belong to a single application.
• More comments regarding the technical vs non-technical aspects of this discussion.

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