Re: files or database for solid pods [Was: Towards Solid Lite]

On 10/31/23 3:53 PM, Melvin Carvalho wrote:
>
>
> út 31. 10. 2023 v 20:50 odesílatel Kingsley Idehen 
> <kidehen@openlinksw.com> napsal:
>
>
>     On 10/31/23 3:45 PM, Melvin Carvalho wrote:
>>
>>
>>     út 31. 10. 2023 v 20:41 odesílatel Kingsley Idehen
>>     <kidehen@openlinksw.com> napsal:
>>
>>         Hi Melvin,
>>
>>         On 10/31/23 8:52 AM, Melvin Carvalho wrote:
>>         > Then there are things which a triple store cant do.  Such
>>         as saving my
>>         > family photos.  Storing a song or playlist. Uploading a video.
>>         >
>>         > The web started out by linking documents so it stands to
>>         reason that
>>         > flavours of solid should inherit this ability, in the
>>         general case.
>>         >
>>         > Does it make sense?
>>
>>
>>         A different angle:
>>
>>         Triple Stores and Filesytems can exist behind a common
>>         abstraction layer
>>         provided by HTTP. This kind of abstraction is where Solid
>>         comes into
>>         play, by making such possible via Single Page Apps deployed
>>         via HTML.
>>
>>         That's exactly how we use Solid atop our Virtuoso platform
>>         (which is a
>>         DBMS, WebDAV file server, Middleware combo). Basically, you
>>         can work
>>         using fileystem interaction patterns while the underlying
>>         data is
>>         accessible via a number of interfaces and returned in a
>>         variety of
>>         negotiated formats.
>>
>>
>>     Makes total sense.  That would be a great way to build client
>>     side apps.
>>
>>     However a pain point right now is that it is hard to build a
>>     server, or even find an existing server that is bug free.
>>
>>     A specification to find a minimal subset of Solid to build a
>>     working, bug free server, that passes tests in the test suite, is
>>     the challenge.
>>
>>     The question is which parts of the spec could you take out, and
>>     still have useful applications.
>>
>>     Not everyone can build something like virtuoso overnight, so what
>>     properties would create a minimal viable back end.
>
>
>     Yes, lite server implementations (that aren't full Virtuoso) are
>     important. That said, a good specification should provide a
>     binding layer for data stored in a variety of storage systems.
>     This was always what I assumed to be ground-zero re Solid i.e., a
>     spec implementable using a variety of back-end storage engines.
>
>
> So NSS (node solid server) has been the de-facto reference 
> implementation for the last decade or so.
>
> It only uses the file system, no database.  Which is consistent with 
> Big Solid, ie it passes all the tests right now.
>
> Therefore, mandating multiple back ends in Solid Lite would actually 
> be adding to the spec, not cutting it down, if it was mandatory.  Not 
> saying that it's wrong or bad, it might be doable anyway.  But just 
> explaining the parameters.


I would never mandate or suggest multiple back-ends. Just as I wouldn't 
mandate a file system or a DBMS.

I only advocate for server implementations scoped to the implementers 
preferred back-end. Basically, if an implementer wants to do so for a 
file system then fine; likewise, if they want to do so for a DBMS 
(table, graphs, or mixed) then fine.

Solid is supposed to be about choice on both the client and sever sides 
with regards to read-write operations. It will always lose its way when 
specificity (on either side) creeps in i.e., whenever the abstraction 
becomes leaky.

-- 
Regards,

Kingsley Idehen 
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
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