Hello friends,
Let me just add my agreement with the idea that Steve et al. have already
expressed. I get a constant stream of emails from people who use ncview
and R-ncdf, both of which I maintain, and from that I've learned that one
of the key reasons netcdf is widely used is because it's straightforward
and relatively easy to use. The dominant users of netcdf are not
developers capable of downloading some extra tar file and installing it,
or even understanding what kind of netcdf file they have in the first
place. I think it is absolutely the right decision to drop support for a
feature that we know beforehand won't be available by default to all
users, whether they be java client users or fedora users or whatever.
--David Pierce
Steve Hankin wrote:
> All,
>
> Adding a quick comment to support the position that Ed and John are
> taking: given the restrictions on szip support I feel pretty confident
> that the CF group would elect to forbid its use in CF-compliant files.
> A key reason for enthusiasm about netCDF-CF is the degree to which it
> promotes interoperability. Files that can be read only by a restricted
> (licensed?!) set of software at certain sites would not meet this test.
> Quite the opposite; we'd be introducing a serious stumbling block to
> interoperability. The need for client writers to support multiple
> client software builds would be a HUGE downside to offset the potential
> advantages of szip.
>
> - Steve
>
> =============================
>
> John Caron wrote:
>> I think its a mistake to promote the use of a proprietary compression
>> scheme, unless it was much better, which i doubt it is. If the szip
>> patent holders would like to release their IP claims then that would
>> be another matter.
>> I also think its fatal that theres no java implementation, and theres
>> doubt whether one could legally be written. We would then be in the
>> position of writing netcdf-4 files (by the C netcdf library) that cant
>> be read by the java netcdf library.
>> OTOH, trying to read existing szipped data is a good thing if
>> possible, since there may be Important Stuff in There, that wants to
>> be set free.
>>
>>
>> Ted Mansell wrote:
>>> Ed, et al.,
>>>
>>>> Szip Cons:
>>>>
>>>> * No existing Java version.
>>>> * License restrictions for commercial writers of data.
>>>> * Some (or most) netCDF-4 installations will not be able to read
>>>> szipped
>>>> files without rebuilding netCDF.
>>>> * Will not (and should not) be used by CMIP5 effort and (probably)
>>>> other
>>>> important archives.
>>>> * Due to licensing szip will not be available in stock Fedora
>>>> distribution. Fedora is a very popular Linux distribution, and at
>>>> least
>>>> some other free software distributions will probably feel the same
>>>> about szip licensing problems.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> All of these apply equally well to hdf5, so why is it a big deal?
>>> szip is not a default option for hdf5, so probably most folks don't
>>> use it, anyway. I think if you already put it in, it might as well
>>> stay in for those who want to use it and don't need to worry about
>>> compatibility. (I'm sure plenty of commercial software doesn't even
>>> read netcdf4 yet, either.)
>>>
>>> As for Fedora users, they should be able to install stuff that they
>>> want. I'm not complaining that OS X doesn't have szip in the stock
>>> install.... get the tar file and go.
>>>
>>> If licensing is really an issue, it could be a separate config option
>>> to enable writing of szip (e.g., --enable-write-szip), and let
>>> --with-szip just enable reading.
>>>
>>> Is it just a matter of time before the Java version catches up? Not
>>> that I use it....
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> -- Ted
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> netcdfgroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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>>
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>
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>
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David W. Pierce
Division of Climate, Atmospheric Science, and Physical Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
(858) 534-8276 (voice) / (858) 534-8561 (fax) dpierce@xxxxxxxx
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