Science middleware initiative goes open-source
....
A multifaceted, federally funded initiative aimed at developing and
deploying open-source, open-standards middleware and services so that
scientists can share data and collaborate on research has released the
fifth version of its software, as the effort spreads into corporate use
and beyond U.S. borders.
The National Science Foundation's Middleware Initiative, or NMI, was
launched in 2001 with US$12 million in grants to be distributed over
three years. Well before the end of the funding, NMI projects have swept
into universities across the U.S., linking far more than scientists and
researchers in an effort that now includes collaboration with software
developers and scientists in the U.K., Europe and Asia.
Last week, NMI Release 5 rolled out as part of the initiative's
twice-annual update of software, services and documentation. The
software suite and individual components, tested and debugged before
release, are distributed for free at the NMI Web site
(http://www.nsf-middleware.org.) Middleware, as defined by the NMI, is
software connecting two or more separate applications across the
Internet, and on a larger level consists of a layer of services between
a network and applications that manage security, access and information.
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http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;1260723106;fp;16;fpid;0