OpenDD Group quiet ?

[Dhrup]

I just found this group while searching "OpenDD..." on google some 1 -
2 weeks ago and noticed it seems quiet.

I have been looking closely at OpenDD and related in Elgg -- we're
looking to create a 'federated' network of schools sites based on Elgg
so that individual schools can have their 'private' portfolios and can
share what they choose across the Federation.

[Marc Canter]

having a common data format is important, but Elgg also needs to establish inter-operable APIs as well

OpenDD has never gone out - beyond Elgg - so far.

[Dhrup]

We're looking at using OpenDD across **sites we build with Elgg** so
we're OK ;-) I'm also looking at using XML-RPC, SOAP, (+OAuth/OpenDD)
for our needs. There being no security within the XML data formats
(except maybe SOAP) -- I'm researching typical signed requests,
encrypted xml data, public/private keys, maybe even AES hooked into
XML manipilation code.

[Ewout ter Haar]

On Feb 17, 10:44 pm, Dhrup <Dhrup2...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I have been looking closely at OpenDD and related  in Elgg -- we're
> looking to create a 'federated' network of schools sites based on Elgg
> so that individual schools can have their 'private' portfolios and can
> share what they choose across the Federation.

I think that for now the only format and protocol for this kind of
network
with interoperability across applications is OpenSocial (the > 0.8
server to
server "REST" api) .

Even without doing any comparisons on technical or intrinsic merit, in
my
opinion there is essentially zero chance for OpenDD to get any
adoption outside
of elgg installs. The reason is for a standard to get adopted, there
must be
a massive effort in marketing, development of libraries, get the
licences and
patent story right, etc. etc. This implies either a substantial
community effort
or a big company getting behind it.

Furthermore, a standard which is just a little ahead in these efforts,
again completely
independently of intrinsic merit, will have a big first mover
advantage, because
of network effects: after a little while it is in everyones interest
to join the
bigger network and the standard will become dominant in its domain.

I think that is what will happen with OpenSocial, although I guess a
newcomer
in a niche educational software cannot be excluded. But, the question
will
always remain: can you afford to exclude OpenSocial users from your
network?

So, if I were an elgg user, I would invest in the OpenSocial plugins.