Jan 2002 ARK what's-going-on

Folks, I'm aware that I haven't sent out a coherent Arusha
Project message this year, so here goes (modulo 'coherent'
:-).  As we've had some new subscribers, I'll begin at the
beginning...

At its heart, the Arusha Project (ARK) offers a "language"
with which you can describe the sysadmin "added value" for
your site.  The "language" is that funky XML stuff you've
seen, and the mental model that goes with it is that
"object" stuff you've heard us speak/write about...  The
core ARK code is, unsurprisingly, the "interpreter" (or
"engine") that slurps through the ARK "language".

What's new with the language and/or its engine?  Frankly,
almost nothing.  That stuff's pretty steady, and there are
no plans to change it.

Now, as it happens, that "core" ARK stuff is a small
fraction (5-10% ?) of what you get if you download the
tarballs on offer.  Most of the rest is heaps of .xml files
which describe (in the ARK language, of course) sysadmin
stuff that is/has-been/might-be done at a site.  For
example, sidai/package/gcc.xml describes one way to do the
care and feeding of GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) at a site.

There has been -- and it will continue -- a steady stream of
tweaks/additions to these piles of bits that reflect *use*
of the Arusha Project Way of managing real sites.  If you
read the ark-commits list, you'll see it as it happens :-)

All that said: it's been a quiet-ish month in Arusha land.
I am pre-occupied with a day-job office move, and Matt
started a new job at the beginning of the month, which
presumably means he's down at the pub spending his new-found
wealth :-)

But, as far as I know, all is well in Arusha land. Feel free
to pipe up if you have any issues, comments, etc.

Will

PS: Jonathan Hogg will be giving an invited talk about the
Arusha Project in London at the UKUUG (UK Unix Users' Group)
conference on Feb 13-14; I don't know the exact time or
place or, well, anything else about it :-)