I don't know anything about how apache manages projects, but is there a
trello board or a project management system with tasks to be done in
preparation of release? I feel like despite a bunch of paperwork that may
have been completed, there isn't a lot of actual organization in place.
On Feb 8, 2016 8:46 PM, "David Ash" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Yeah, I didn't mean to offend. We've all worked on software whose
> architects didn't make the best decisions. I've recently inherited such a
> product suite so I'm kind of on the offensive - but mostly yeah I'm just
> making the point that virtually any well-designed LOB software architecture
> should include XACML, and lack of apparent interest is more reflective of
> how slowly good architectural design has moved through the community. But
> microservices are on the rise, architectural decoupling is growing, the
> modern auth stack is finding growing adoption, and XACML's time is coming.
>
> Of course, we need better tooling. And boy do I have ideas there. But
> first, we need the core product to work well.
>
> Also, I did get it running. I never got it to work right (lack of
> knowledge and documentation on my side), but I got it compiled and running
> in jetty. It's got to be possible to do a release soon. The biggest changes
> had to do with moving away from Ivy and moving toward Maven, and then
> making necessary changes to get it to run in a standard servlet server
> since the att team doesn't use a standard servlet server (I think they use
> some embedded jetty solution).
> On Feb 8, 2016 4:30 PM, "Carlos Perez" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> It’s only my opinion but I do think David makes some good points… One
> point in particular is just the lack of devs really even knowing what
> XACML is, or what it’s for.  I myself didn’t know what it was about until
> about 2 years ago, and only because I have a particular interest in
> security and access control did I go out in search for an alternative to
> some other XACML implementations. Some that would not share even the
> slightest amount of information before they get you into a hour+ long
> phone call to “find out your needs”.  That said, I think it’s still a
> little harsh to say that I have been writing software that “sucks”, but
> I’m going to take that with a grain of salt and say it was for dramatic
> effect. =o)
>
> All that said, one major item of interest to email from David was his
> mention of a PR, and then I remembered this…
> https://github.com/apache/incubator-openaz/pulls
>
> Now I’m not sure if this counts as activity, nor will I even try to
> qualify this as a community, but there are now 3 pending PR’s dating back
> to December 3rd, 2015 that’s… Well it’s something.  Anyway, I know the
> AT&T group has been a little incommunicado but they are the best people to
> put SOME kind of docs put there, even a video of how to download/setup/and
> run would be a start.  I know the lack of docs has been my biggest
> weakness but so far I’ve been trying to learn via YouTube videos and
> reading what I can of the spec (good bedtime reading BTW, knocks you out
> quick).  I know that Colm (I think it’s Colm) did some write up recently
> which was an attempt to show OpenAz used in an app, it was lite but still
> a start.
>
> Any who, this emails gotten a bit long so I’m going to cut it off here,
> but I would like to see David’s port of the AT&T admin portal (I think
> that will really help), and if possible could Colm reply back with his
> write up??
>
> Regards,
>
> Carlos
>
>
> On 2/8/16, 5:02 PM, "David Ash" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I have submitted a pull request for my port of the Admin interface.  I'll
> >check what other changes were made and see what else I can submit.
> >
> >BTW, although I had previously worked for AT&T, including working on
> >software that interacted with AT&T's original XACML engine, I no longer
> >work for AT&T.  My interest in this project came from my desire to have a
> >RESTful API for XACML authorization, I found this project via Google, and
> >my contributions to this project are my own.  In this regard I am a truly
> >independent contributor.
> >
> >On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 2:42 PM, David Ash <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> I think it hasn't seen much activity over the past two months because
> >>it's
> >> been a holiday season.  I know most of the AT&T people take most of
> >> December off (once upon a time, I was one).
> >>
> >> It has a lot of work to be done before it's functional and even remotely
> >> mature, and we're not going to see a lot of outside interest until it
> >>gets
> >> there.
> >> * The Admin part is crucial, and it hadn't even been ported over (I
> >>ported
> >> it myself, still need to fork in github and do a pull-request).
> >> * There's a shortage of documentation.  To the point that it's unusable.
> >> * It's complicated enough that its difficult to come up with the
> >> documentation.
> >>
> >> Now, sure there seems to be a shortage of interest but I say give that
> >> time.  XACML is not a thing of the past, it's still part of the future.
> >> Organizations and software developers are still slowly moving to XACML
> >>--
> >> it is the best authorization solution in existence to my knowledge, and
> >> fits nicely into a modern auth stack with SCIM, JSON Identity Suite,
> >>OpenID
> >> Connect, and OAuth.  (
> >> http://www.slideshare.net/nordicapis/1415-twobo-nordicap-istour
> >> ).  Most developers still aren't using an external authorization
> >>solution
> >> because they are building highly-coupled monolithic software that sucks.
> >> And honestly, there aren't a lot of other free open source options.  The
> >> only alternative I see that is any good is WSO2's Identity Server
> >>(which is
> >> vastly superior to this product, but hey that's an opportunity in some
> >> ways).  If this project really succeeded, it would at least allow
> >> developers of open source systems to build better, more modular
> >>software.
> >>
> >> The main problem I see is that AT&T still has most of the knowledge and
> >>is
> >> able to put very little effort behind it.  We need Pam's team to write
> >>up
> >> some high quality documentation (particularly for the API's) and release
> >> that information.
> >>
> >> The other problem I see is there's kind of a lack of vision as far as I
> >> can tell.  We need someone in the lead that has the time to craft a
> >>vision
> >> for what this product should really be.  When you look at WSO2's
> >>Identity
> >> Server, you immediately start realizing the possibilities -- things that
> >> this project haven't even touched yet.
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> David Ash
> >>
> >>
> >> PS. I'll put in a pull request for my port of the Admin interface.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 9:59 AM, Emmanuel Lécharny <[email protected]>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Le 08/02/16 16:53, Carlos Perez a écrit :
> >>> > Hi guys,
> >>> >
> >>> > While I completely understand the reasoning for the discussion to
> >>>retire
> >>> > OpenAXZ, and to be completely honest I was surprised it took this
> >>>long),
> >>> > it would be a real shame to see it just fade away into oblivion.
> >>>
> >>> I Agree.
> >>>
> >>> >
> >>> > That said, what does happen when a project never makes it to a TLP?
> >>>
> >>> From Apache POV, not a lot. We just shut down the mailing lists, and
> >>> close the repos (no more writes allowed).
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> > Does
> >>> > it have a chance to be resuscitated later if it is deemed worthwhile
> >>>and
> >>> > has more interest?
> >>> It's always a possibility. A very remote one, I have to say. The fact
> >>> that in almost 2 years the project hasn't be able to attract any new
> >>> contributors, and that almost no activity has been seen from the
> >>>initial
> >>> contributors make it unlikely that the project could make a come back.
> >>>
> >>> In 10 years, I haven't seen that happen. Not once.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> > Does the license revert back to AT&T?
> >>>
> >>> Good question. I can ask [email protected] about that. The fact that it didn't
> >>> make it to a TLP might be relevant. For TLPs, the code base has been
> >>> granted to The ASF and remains so, same for the name.
> >>> >
> >>> > XACML is a complicated spec and I can¹t say that I fully understand
> >>>it
> >>> > yet, but I think it solves a real problem (I just regret not having
> >>>the
> >>> > time personally to help push it along).
> >>>
> >>> That's the main issue : the fcat that it's a complex code base might be
> >>> intimidating for many of the potential users. But IMHO, would it be
> >>> really a critical brick of many IT systems, it *would* have attracted
> >>> developpers. That raises the question of XACML as a useful technology.
> >>> It as been around for more than 10 years now, and I'm not sure that it
> >>> captured a lot of interest. But that may be just me... (and I *think*
> >>>it
> >>> could have been a big hit years ago. Not so sure nowadays.)
> >>>
> >>> Thanks !
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
>
>
> This e-mail message and any attachments to it are intended only for the
> named recipients and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential
> information. If you are not one of the intended recipients, do not
> duplicate or forward this e-mail message.
>
>

Reply via email to