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Jtrix FAQ
- About
this FAQ
- Jtrix
technology
- Licencing
- Jtrix
background
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About this FAQ
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About the FAQ
This is the main FAQ for jtrix.org. The original can be found
at http://jtrix.sourceforge.net.
It is intended to outline what Jtrix is all about and also some
background information.
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Contact details
Discussion forums exist for general comments and questions.
There are forums which relate to Jtrix in general, and forums
which are specific to individual projects. If these are not
right for you and you need to mail us then please mail feedback@jtrix.org.
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Jtrix technology
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What is Jtrix?
Jtrix is a technology to allow code to be mobile, adaptive,
distributed and scalable. For more information see our white
papers which you can get from the home page at http://jtrix.sourceforge.net.
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Who should be interested in Jtrix?
Jtrix is aimed developers who want to write highly scalable
applications efficiently, ASPs who want to provide cost-effective
and scalable services, and ISPs who want to make their resources
available in an easy and efficient manner.
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Isn't Jtrix like Jini/.Net/CORBA/etc?
No. They tackle different problems related to distributed computing.
They are not concerned with code mobility as Jtrix is. On the
other hand we have no desire to reinvent the wheel, so they
are complementary.
For a bit more on this, see the white papers.
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What is the current state of Jtrix?
You can download a demo of Jtrix today. The demo allows you
to run a Tomcat servlet engine in a Jtrix cluster. The package
comprises a Jtrix node on which you can run any Jtrix applications,
plus clustering software and hosting services. It also comes
with some sample hello world programs.
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Licencing
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How is Jtrix licenced?
The main Jtrix software is licenced under the LGPL. We've also
prepended a clarifying paragraph because Jtrix is Java-based
and the LGPL is written more with C and C++ applications in
mind.
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What does the licence mean in practice?
Read the licence for details. In short the Jtrix base, our node
implementation (Nodality) and our key services are all considered
LGPL libraries. You can use, amend, combine and distribute them
under the LGPL.
You may want to bundle LGPL'd interface files for use by your
own netlets. The LGPL prevents you from bundling such interface
files into a single JAR with your code (unless that, too, is
compatible with the LGPL) but you can put them in a separate
JAR and create a Jtrix descriptor which references both the
Jar for your code and the Jar for the LGPL'd code.
However, do not consider this as legal advice. You should always
read the licence for details.
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Why not use the GPL, Mozilla Public Licence, etc?
We want as many people as possible to write Jtrix applications,
which is why it is open source. We also want it to become a
"de facto standard". At the same time we want anyone to be able
to make money writing Jtrix applications, and to have their
free (as in speech) work protected if they wish that. The LGPL
encompasses all these things.
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If I write my own Jtrix service, what licencing can I use?
A Jtrix service is not a piece of software, it is an entire
business such as data backup, application hosting, credit card
authorisation, etc. Service licencing/contracts can be whatever
is right for your business and clients. Services are fulfilled
via netlets, which are reusable software components.
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If I write my own Jtrix netlets, what licencing can I use?
They're your netlets so you can licence them how you like. However,
as a guide... Netlets are reusable software components, so you
probably want a library-like licence for them. They are requested
and used by other netlets, and this requesting and use is mediated
by a node, which is their execution platform. So a netlet licence
should take this into account, and consider what, if anything,
it knows about the terms of the mediating node and requesting
netlet. The GPL would probably not be suitable, for instance;
the LGPL may be right for you; a suitable proprietary licence
may also be appropriate.
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If I write my own Jtrix node, what licencing can I use?
There is already a node implementation, Nodality, which is licenced
under the LGPL, but you can implement your own node if you wish.
Since it's your software you can licence it how you like.
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Jtrix background
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Who is behind Jtrix?
Jtrix was devised and is being created by Jtrix Ltd, whose parent
company is Hyperlink plc. See http://www.hyperlink.com
for more. We hope that many developers around the world will
join us.
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Why was it started?
The people at Hyperlink wanted to write a large system much
like that described in the white paper "Jtrix: An introduction
for everyone". We found there was no efficient way of it doing
it with the technology available. That's why we built Jtrix.
Trademarks
and copyrights on this site belong to their respective owners.
Contributions of content and other items belong to their respective
contributors.
Other content copyright © 2001-2002 Jtrix Ltd.
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