[noaaport] Soliciting Comments on Ending Support for Solaris

• To: LDM <ldm-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NOAAPORT <noaaport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Subject: [noaaport] Soliciting Comments on Ending Support for Solaris
• From: Mike Zuranski <mzuranski@xxxxxxxx>
• Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2023 14:16:04 -0500

Greetings all,

The Unidata Program Center is considering ending support for the Solaris
operating system in the LDM software, including NOAAPort ingest
capability.  No timeline has been established, but it would probably be
this summer or fall.  A final decision will be communicated at a later date.

What this would mean:
While the LDM currently works 100% in Solaris, if we end support we can no
longer make that guarantee.  We expect the LDM will continue to function,
but if something changes in the OS or when we make changes to the LDM,
there is a chance the software will break one way or another.  If an
incompatibility does arise the LDM will not be modified to adapt.  This
does not impact any other software / operating system combination.

Why we are considering this:
We have several Solaris machines at Unidata, they have some specialized
hardware that requires Solaris and as such we have ensured the LDM works
smoothly in that OS.  The need for that specialized hardware has gone away
and we are about to decommission these machines, and this made us take a
look at what it would mean for the LDM.  We are not aware of any other site
using the LDM in a Solaris environment, and we haven't seen any support
inquiries about it in ages.  If ending support for Solaris has little to no
impact to the community then it we would not need to set up and maintain
another Solaris environment, we have no other need for one.

If ending support for Solaris in the LDM would affect you, or if you have
any other questions or concerns, please write support-ldm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
and tell us what you think.

Best,
-Mike


*Mike Zuranski*
Data Engineer II
Unidata Program Center
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research