A site like http://www.cornerhost.com/cvs/ might be a better forum for the jousting than on this list.
----- Original Message ----- From: "pat665" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 1:52 PM Subject: [REBOL] Re: A REBOL challenge - The Information World > Go Gabrielle, Go ! > > I am totally supportive to your challenge, however I don't see that newbie > like me can be a part of it. Nevertheless I will enjoy seeing you all gurus > and Rebol jedi in a fair and loyal joust. > > Patrick > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Gabriele Santilli" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 5:45 PM > Subject: [REBOL] A REBOL challenge - The Information World > > > > Hello all! > > > > A REBOL challenge > > > > [Permission is explicitly granted to publish this document on the > > REBOL Zine, on REBOLForces or on any other REBOL-related > > publication/site/whatever.] > > > > With this message, I'm going to launch a challenge. The goal is to > > create a peer-to-peer communication system as described below; > > implementations will be judged by the members of the REBOL mailing > > list, with regards to: > > > > * Code elegance and simplicity > > * Efficiency > > * Usability > > > > If my free time will permit, I'll partecipate to the challenge > > too; a time limit will be set in agreement with the participants. > > The resulting code is required to be freely distributable at least > > inside the REBOL mailing list; freely distributable software will > > be preferred over restricted software because to be useful the > > system has to be available to all the users of the Internet. > > > > [I'm quite sure Maarten will participate with a Rugby based > > implementation; I'd like to have someone doing a REBOL/IOS based > > implementation too...] > > > > If you are interested, please read the following document > > carefully; comments or requests for clarifications will be > > gratefully accepted. [Since this version can be considered a sort > > of draft, I would be vert grateful to those of you that will > > really be brave enough to read it all and offer me some comments.] > > > > The "Information World" > > > > I want to create a sort of "virtual world". I will call it the > > Information World (IW). This world is made of informations, from > > static data to "live" entities able to interact with the rest of > > the IW. > > > > The IW is based on three simple entities that the implementation > > has to represent. These are "Places", "Objects" and "Agents". > > > > Places > > > > A "Place" is a location in the IW. It can contain objects and > > agents, and it can be connected to other places. (The connection > > does not necessarily need to be a TCP/IP connection or something > > like that; you can think of it as a "road" going from one place to > > another. Also notice that if place A is connected to place B, > > automatically place B is connected to place A.) Agents can move > > from one place to another only using a connection (normal agents > > cannot create a new connection). > > > > The implementation of a place has to provide a way for agents to > > know what other objects and agents are present in the place. I.e. > > the agents will have to be able to query the place where they are > > to know what's there besides of them. > > > > Objects > > > > "Objects" are "things", such as repositories, containers, > > documents, and so on. An object can contain other objects; for > > example, a book shelf object might contain book objects. By > > themselves, objects cannot move from one place to another or > > interact with other objects or agents. Only agents are able to > > iteract with other agents or objects. > > > > The implementation should make it easy for objects to be moved > > from a place to another (by agents); also, agents must be able to > > query an object to know what actions it can perform on it (for > > example, a book shelf might provide a "search" action to allow an > > agent to search for a book, and so on). > > > > The implementation has to provide an easy way for users to create > > new objects. Also, objects can be cloned. > > > > Agents > > > > "Agents" are the most interesting entity of the IW. They are the > > key for the communication, since they are the only entity that can > > move from a place to another and interact with other entities. > > They can also carry objects, but there should be a limit on the > > size of the objects an agent can carry on a given connection. > > Implementations have to deal with security issues raised by the > > presence of agents. > > > > In particular, two categories of agents have to exist: "Residents" > > and "Tourists". The only resident agents available should be: > > > > * The "Road Builder", which creates connections with other > > places. It is the only entity that can create connections; of > > course it can destroy a connection too. > > > > * The "Sentinel". A sentinel can be placed on every connection > > to verify the identity of coming tourists and place restrictions > > on them or even disallow their entrance. Each sentinel should be > > in communication with the one on the other side (if present) to > > be able to identify coming tourists. (Identifying might just > > mean assigning a "trust level" or something like that.) > > > > * The "Mail Agent", which is responsible of sending (big) > > objects to other places. The mail agents can be asked by an > > agent to send an object to another mail agent on another place; > > it should also be possible for mail to be delivered to a > > specific agent in a place (passing thru the mail agent of that > > place). The implementation should provide an efficent way to > > transfer any amount of data. (This makes up for the limit of > > agents to carry objects; place-to-place connections should be > > optimized for the transport of tourists with rather small > > baggage, while mail agent-to-mail agent "connections" might be > > optimized for transferring big objects.) > > > > * The "Banker". A place might have a banker which holds > > important objects. Objects available in the place can be used > > (and cloned) by any agent, so a banker might be needed to > > restrict access to some objects. > > > > The implementation should not allow for a tourist to become a > > resident, unless the user explicitly wants it to (and he/she > > should be warned that this is a security issue). Residents > > (sentinels and mail agents in particular) should have a secure way > > to identify themselves. (There's no reason for a resident to > > become a tourist and to move from one place to another; anyway, if > > an implementation allows the user to do this, it should take care > > of any security issue that may rise.) > > > > Tourists can be of any kind and freely move from one place to > > another (provided they get permission from the sentinels) > > traveling the IW. The implementation should provide a way for the > > user to create new tourists. Tourists can be cloned (with or > > without their baggage :). Also, the user has to have a simple way > > to instruct a tourist to do something (such as "Go on and search > > for this book!"). > > > > But why? > > > > Because it looks like a lot of fun. :-) And also because our brain > > is just a network of rather simple things... ;) > > > > > > Being visionary today, ;-) > > Gabriele. > > -- > > Gabriele Santilli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - Amigan - REBOL programmer > > Amiga Group Italia sez. L'Aquila -- http://www.amyresource.it/AGI/ > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe from this list, please send an email to > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe" in the > > subject, without the quotes. > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________ __ > ifrance.com, l'email gratuit le plus complet de l'Internet ! > vos emails depuis un navigateur, en POP3, sur Minitel, sur le WAP... > http://www.ifrance.com/_reloc/email.emailif > > > -- > To unsubscribe from this list, please send an email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe" in the > subject, without the quotes. > -- To unsubscribe from this list, please send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe" in the subject, without the quotes.
