Re: Announcing the Cloud Computing Manifesto

[Reuven Cohen]

Deleting the post was a mistake, sorry for the confusion. We have reached out to Sam Johnston and both of us have agreed that once the open cloud manifesto is made public under a creative common license, Sam and I will work to bring together the best points of each effort. Our commitment is to work in a truly open fashion. Sam and I share a common passion for interoperable cloud computing and I look forward to collaborating.

Reuven

On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 5:36 AM, Sam Johnston <sa...@samj.net> wrote:

Earlier today Microsoft savaged an undisclosed effort to develop an "Open Cloud Manifesto" in secret, tweeting that "An open cloud deserves an equally open manifesto: http://is.gd/oZtA (and don't show up to a party making demands without bringing something)" while blogging:

"We were admittedly disappointed by the lack of openness in the development of the Cloud Manifesto. What we heard was that there was no desire to discuss, much less implement, enhancements to the document despite the fact that we have learned through direct experience.  Very recently we were privately shown a copy of the document, warned that it was a secret, and told that it must be signed "as is," without modifications or additional input.  It appears to us that one company, or just a few companies, would prefer to control the evolution of cloud computing, as opposed to reaching a consensus across key stakeholders (including cloud users) through an “open” process. An open Manifesto emerging from a closed process is at least mildly ironic."

Although there's no prizes for guessing who's behind this let's skip the speculation (the consortium will reveal itself "in the coming days or weeks" anyway) and get on with the job:

To ensure that the work on such a project is open, transparent and complete, we feel strongly that any "manifesto" should be created, from its inception, through an open mechanism like a Wiki, for public debate and comment, all available through a Creative Commons license. After all, what we are really seeking are ideas that have been broadly developed, meet a test of open, logical review and reflect principles on which the broad community agrees. This would help avoid biases toward one technology over another, and expand the opportunities for innovation. 

It so happens that the Cloud Computing Community already has a MediaWiki (ala Wikipedia) installation (http://wiki.cloudcommunity.org/) for exactly this purpose and had previously developed a complementary document for users, the Cloud Computing Bill of Rights.

As such I am pleased to announce the Cloud Computing Manifesto which has been seeded with Microsoft's three initial suggestions:

1. Open Process: Interoperability principles and any needed standards for cloud computing need to be defined through a process that is open to public collaboration and scrutiny. 
2. Balanced Representation: Creation of interoperability principles and any standards effort that may result should not be a vendor-dominated process. To be fair as well as relevant, they should have support from multiple providers as well as strong support from customers and other stakeholders.  
3. Continuous Development: Due recognition should be given to the fact that the cloud market is immature, with a great deal of innovation yet to come. Therefore, while principles can be agreed upon relatively soon, the relevant standards may take some time to develop and coalesce as the cloud computing industry matures.

It's an open wiki driven by community consensus and anyone can join and contribute (there's no invitations, membership fees, etc.) so be BOLD and if you have something to add then go ahead.

--
Posted By Sam Johnston to Sam Johnston at 3/26/2009 09:36:00 AM

[Geir Magnusson Jr.]

+1

Thanks for stepping up. Lets move forward.

geir

[Alexis Richardson]

That's right. This is what people want to see. Community - in action.

[Sam Johnston]

Agreed - let's get on with it.

For now (for me at least) that means pressing on with the Open Cloud Computing Interface (OCCI) [PDF] OGF working group, which plans to have an implementable draft within a month or so.

If Cloud Infrastructure (IaaS) is of interest to you then you might want to check this out.

Sam

[Jesse L Silver]

Very cool stuff Sam - Since you won't be around next week, can someone else speak to it?

[Andy Edmonds]

The easiest way, Jesse, is to subscribe to the mailing list - that should do enough of the talking :-)

http://www.ogf.org/mailman/listinfo/capi-bof

Andy
andy.edmonds.be

[Jesse L Silver]

Hi Andy - I mean at the CCIF meeting in NYC.