On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 2:13 PM, Brett Slatkin <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Seems to me that the client model for processing a single vs. >> aggregated distribution might be quite a bit different. And also, the >> original upstream feed might have used entry/source already (this >> makes me nervous about the whole notion of PuSH co-opting <source> for >> its own purposes). ... > This is the first time I've heard someone point this out. I believe > the atom:source element was specifically included in that spec for the > purpose that PubSubHubbub is using it. Bob Wyman seemed to indicate > the same thing too in some other email threads on this list. Could you > clarify how this is "co-opting" the source element? Well, consider the popular feed at http://planet.intertwingly.net/atom.xml - it's already an aggregation, produced by the well-known "planet" software, and makes heavy use of the <source> element. What happens when PSHB tries to combine this and several other feeds? It's arguably a shortcoming of atom:source that it doesn't handle multiple levels of nesting. But I also think it's a mistake for PSHB to assume that it's the only link in the aggregation chain. >> [Um, when I read this section, there's a little voice in the back of >> my head shouting "YAGNI!"] > > I disagree with "YAGNI" here. Take world-wide RSS traffic. Multiply by > 1,000,000. We will need aggregated delivery to fully utilize links. You're entitled to your opinion, but I think you should get it working first and discover your bottlenecks by experience, rather than invent something to fix a problem you're pretty sure you're going to have. Following this advice is easier for me than for other people because repeated humiliation has taught me that I'm not smart enough to predict where the choke points are going to be in things that approach internet scale. Anyhow, the <source> element strikes me as a lousy solution. It's going to bulk up your feeds pretty severely, unless I'm missing something. Why not just have a <pubsubhubbub:divider src="http://wherever..."; /> separator element here and there among the entries? Or jam a bunch of feeds together with multipart/related (works great, lots of libraries)? -T
