telconf ultra-short summary

[raik]

Hi fellows,

Let's start the discussion group with a ultra-brief summary of our
conference call. I only made sparse notes so I won't even attempt to
give a faithful summary here.

When: 10/07/2008 (European date ;-)

Subject: to get an overview over registry software projects and
explore collaborations

Participants (alphabetical):

* J. Chris Anderson (JBEI)
* Mackenzie Cowell (BasePears)
* Douglas Densmore (UC Berkeley)
* Raik Gruenberg (CRG)
* Timothy Ham (JBEI)
* Jason Morrison (BasePears)

Some of the points discussed:
======================

1) Introduction

2) The Clotho project (Doug):
Clotho is a Java program inspired by the ApeE sequence editor. It is
being written by the computational arm of the UC Berkeley iGEM team.
The program can connect to LIMS and part repositories (currently mySQL
based databases) to retrieve and store parts. It features a algorithm
plugin system for easy extendability. Doug wanted to know how to
connect the program to the existing registry servers, in particular
via PoBoL.

3) JBEI registry project (Tim):
Tim works on the web server that is hosting the JBEI registry. The web
server is based on a mySQL database (already containing 5000 entries),
a custom XML import/export layer but uses Django for templating, forms
and authentification. It does *not* use the Django database API and -
backend. The registry package is scheduled for open source release
around January 2009.

4) BrickIt project (Raik):
BrickIt is a pure Django web server to manage a small BioBrick
collection at the CRG in Barcelona (currently about 300 entries and 3
active users). The project is open source and available as virtual
machine for easy deployment. However, Raik hasn't invested time into
an actual web front-end and BrickIt right now uses the Django
administration web interface both for viewing and editing of records.

5) some general discussions
Tim had looked at BrickIt but didn't like the admin interface.
Doug demanded a reference implementation for PoBoL export / import.
Chris was concerned about broken links and practicalities of a
registry web.
Raik was in favor of a central parts registry to clear and preserve
trusted BioBricks.
Software for local registries should facilitate publication to the MIT
registry.
We all would like to stay in touch.

6) next actions
- create PoBoL/registry issues discussion group
- implement PoBoL draft-formatted export of BioBricks in JBEIR and
BrickIt so that the Clotho team can test the BioBrick import

Critics / Suggestions for the next meeting:
==============================
- get technicalities sorted out beforehand
- organize a new microphone for Chris
- refrain from calling nuclear power plants

Disclaimer: This is just an incomplete collection of the things
discussed.

Greetings,
Raik