*MACE Conference Call*
February 23, 2004

*Attendees*

Ken Klingenstein (acting co-chair)
Keith Hazelton (acting co-chair)
Neal McBurnett - Internet2
Tom Barton - Chicago
Brian Gilmore - Edinburgh
Diego Lopez - RedIRIS
Jim Jokl - Virginia
Steven Carmody - Brown
Paul Hill - MIT
Mark Poepping - CMU
Ben Chinowsky (scribe) - Internet2

*Discussion*

Ken noted that there is a new NSF middleware solicitation due May 14; see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf04555/nsf04555.htm. Kevin Thompson is not expecting either EDIT or GRIDS to submit proposals, but he's very interested in getting proposals from EDIT-associated groups, for example, on SIP proxies or CAP servers. Kevin also stresses that NMI is not concerned with creating new grid protocols, but rather with proving the viability of grids. Kevin is particularly interested in providing underpinnings for TeraGrid and NEESgrid. He'd also like to see a proof-of-concept of virtual organizations being constructed as extensions of campus infrastructure. Steven noted that VidMid-VC has been talking about bringing new kinds of security into H.323, and asked if there would be any way to spark NSF interest in this area. [AI] Keith will ask Miron Livny about working on bringing new kinds of security into H.323.

Steven stressed the need to start understanding "a multi-federation world", especially given the rise of nationally-oriented federations in Europe. [AI] Steven will try to find out if CERN can join the Swiss federation. Steven also noted that the need to join multiple federations had been one of ProQuest's major concerns with Shibboleth. Ken will be talking up federations at the March 9-13 Global Grid Forum meeting (http://www.gridforum.org/).

Jill Gemmill and Ken have been discussing the scope of activities for MACE-Mail (see http://middleware.internet2.edu/MACE/minutes/MACE-22-September-2003.html.). The initial concept was to both NMI-enable a listserv and to explain to others how to do this, but the focus has shifted more toward providing a spec for an NMI-enabled listserv, with an option to produce code if there are resources for that. Even so, there is a danger of scope creep: getting a listproc to use groups and directories, handle signed email, etc. There was general agreement on the newly narrowed initial focus for MACE-Mail, but MACE would also like MACE-Mail to make evaluating Sympa an initial task, as Sympa appears to already have some of the capabilities MACE-Mail will be working to create. There was also general agreement that looking at broader capabilities for listservs would also be appropriate for MACE-Mail, just not at first. [AI] Ken and Jill will continue working on plans for MACE-Mail, and send MACE a revised draft charter. MACE-WebDAV is on hold for now, though Ken noted that the Member Meeting will include a BoF on middleware for Wikis and DAVs, and there may be low-hanging fruit in this area.

Steven gave a short report from the recent Retreat on Mellon Open Source Projects, at which these projects gathered for two days to explore what changes each would find it useful for the others to make, as well as to offer "broader musings" on the way forward. Sakai (http://www.sakaiproject.org) is a big CMS project that seeks to draw together several universities' work in this area; they attended, as did OKI, uPortal, Chandler and others. Overall, it's clear that people are thinking about interoperability, though with more of a focus on tools than on plumbing. More information on the Retreat is available at http://rit.mellon.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome.

Keith noted that Dartmouth has been taking a close look at Microsoft's Longhorn; [AI] Steven will work with Ellen Vaughan to find out more about Dartmouth's work with Longhorn.

[AI] Ken will send Diego a list of suggested topics for middleware side meetings around the upcoming TERENA meeting, and work with Diego to square these topics with interests in Europe.

*Action Items*

[AI] Keith will ask Miron Livny about working on bringing new kinds of security into H.323.
[AI] Steven will try to find out if CERN can join the Swiss federation.
[AI] Ken and Jill will continue working on plans for MACE-Mail, and send MACE a revised draft charter.
[AI] Steven will work with Ellen Vaughan to find out more about Dartmouth's work with Longhorn.
[AI] Ken will send Diego a list of suggested topics for middleware side meetings around the upcoming TERENA meeting, and work with Diego to square these topics with interests in Europe.