01.07.2010 13:45, Markus Sabadello wrote:
Okay, how can I add an entry for @versionvega to the wiki page (I just
signed up but it's read only)?
You need to create an FSF account and log in to the wiki using the link
in the top right corner.
My main interest is not so much re-inventing what we already have in a
less evil way (although that is important too), but rather finding new
communication patterns and apps that are hard to imagine with an
archaic client/server mindset.
Thanks for the pointers. "Who does that server really serve" is a
question I have asked myself many times as well. I'll also take a
close look at GNUnet!
Markus
On Thu, Jul 1, 2010 at 11:21 AM, Rob Myers <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
On 06/30/2010 11:51 PM, Markus Sabadello wrote:
I'm having doubts that something like GNU social or Diaspora will
achieve a lot, because normal people don't know how to set up
a server,
GNU Social exists to be free software for its users, so it will
achieve that. :-)
I gave a talk in France last year at an art & technology event and
although I only mentioned Social briefly it was the thing everyone
wanted to hear about afterwards. People *know* that there are
problems with social networking software. There is a demand for
alternatives that solve those problems, and Social is an answer to
that demand.
Many otherwise capable people can't install an operating system or
a web browser without assistance. We can bundle Social in any
number of ways to empower the greatest number of people to run it:
desktop versions and one-click installs from web hosting providers
are easy to imagine. And as a community we can help people install
and run Social however they want. People don't have to remain
isolated.
and if we build something that only we geeks can use, then yes
we're
going to have a lot of fun discussing whether to name it
"tiramisu" or
"strudel", but ultimately we're just as selfish as the big, evil
We are trying to produce software that takes a minimum of
technical knowledge and that has minimal requirements to install,
relatively speaking. Free Software exists for the freedom of all
its users, not just its developers.
It's fun to discuss names for things. Anyone can get involved in
it, and finding more ways of getting people involved is good.
We're running a logo competition at the moment as well.
companies. I know, I know, the "normal" people can still
"choose" some
host to provide the service for them, but I believe such an
approach
will automatically create competition and turn evil. Just look
at what
I'd compare it more to the competition between web host providers
that has driven down costs and driven up quality of service
without compromising the freedom of users of Apache, Wordpress, etc.
happened to OpenID. Originally it promised that "everyone can
set up or
choose" their identity provider, but by now that system has been
completely swallowed by the big companies, and today it mostly
serves to
give Google and Yahoo even more control over what we do.
I have an OpenID script on my webserver. Occasionally I even
remember how to use it. ;-)
Yes, it would be a problem if a single large player emerged who
found a way of economically exploiting the removal of users
freedom. Coming up with names for lots of different instances
helps to encourage a plurality that should guard against that.
So, the conclusion is to get rid of servers at all.
Yes, servers are inherently problematic -
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2010/feb/10/highlights-eben-moglens-freedom-cloud-talk/
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html
But Social can go on one of Eben's "wall wart" servers, and we got
a lot of experience of how to run a server that doesn't keep logs
or other unintentionally treacherous data with GNU FM.
I do not know too much about GNU social, but I have found your
wiki a
great source of inspiration and would like to ask if it was be
OK to add
@versionvega to the "On your computer" section of this list:
http://groups.fsf.org/wiki/Group:GNU_Social/Project_Comparison
If @versionvega is/contains a social network system then sure. The
more relevant comparisons, the better.
Any feedback (or pointers to related resources) would be
sweet, feel
free to e-mail or call me. I've been working on this on my own
for quite
a while and would like to become involved with a wider community.
On the related resources front, GNU is working on a P2P platform,
GNUNet -
http://gnunet.org/
- Rob.
