Re: [Social-discuss] PHP-Based GNU Social structure

[James Walker]

On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 3:41 PM, Henry Litwhiler <address@hidden> wrote:
> On 3/28/10 3:35 PM, James Walker wrote:
>>
>> Hey folks, been idly watch, but just have to jump in here before this
>> gets much more out of hand...
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Henry Litwhiler<address@hidden>
>>  wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> On 3/28/10 3:21 PM, Matt Lee wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 03/28/2010 02:57 PM, Henry Litwhiler wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Assuming that we go with a pure-PHP GNU Social, what would the
>>>>> application look like, structure-wise? How would the nodes communicate?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So, I thought about the two typical ways people communicate in something
>>>> like Facebook.
>>>>
>>>> 1. They send messages to each other -- via wall posts, inbox messages,
>>>> chat.
>>>>
>>>> 2. They publish things -- status updates, photos, notes, join groups.
>>>>
>>>> For the messaging, something like XMPP could be used.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Developing (or incorporating) good, solid, decentralized messaging
>>> protocol
>>> will have to be a major focus of the GNU Social project.
>>>
>>
>> Blaine mentioned our work earlier, but I would strongly encourage you
>> to check out OStatus - http://ostatus.org/ . It already incorporates
>> both messaging as well as following/subscriptions. It's currently used
>> by StatusNet (http://status.net/) - but is built on the same open
>> protocol stack used by Google Buzz, Cliqset.com and others.
>>
>> This can all be done completely statelessly in exactly the environment
>> that Matt has outlined (StatusNet uses the same LAMP stack).
>>
>> I would strongly encourage you all to focus on adopting existing
>> (preferably, rather than creating) open standards. True decentralized
>> networking should be platform and language independent.
>>
>>
>
> While I would be strongly opposed to the notion of GNU Social turning into
> the pasting together of a bunch of nearly unrelated standards, I also would
> be strongly opposed to reinventing the wheel, which is what we would be
> doing if we tried to develop our own social networking format.

Uhhhhh... Sounds like you're just kind of opposed to all options there :-P

> I agree - we would probably be better off adopting something like OStatus,
> rather than developing our own format.

it's the only thing that really makes sense at the end of the day.
(Note: I don't think you need to use the protocol that I personally am
involved in- rather using something open / existing).

Have a look at this list over the weekend - the people here can't even
agree on which language and base architecture. Once one is selected,
trying to pick a user interface and experience model that works across
languages, cultures and fickle personal preference isn't going to
work.

This is in large part why the twitters and facebooks of the world will
never achieve full ubiquity.

*However* SMTP (warts and all) has come pretty darned close. Why ?
It's simple, open and completely platform and interface agnostic.

If you're looking for decentralized networking - there are lots of
players already in the game. Many of which are idealogically already
aligned. I'd encourage you to contribute.

>>>>
>>>> For the publishing, something like RSS or Atom could be used.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> I hadn't thought of that. This, of course, goes back to the "pull" rather
>>> than "push" methodology.
>>>
>>
>> Completely untrue - RSS&  Atom are document formats ... they can be
>> pushed realtime (see above). See also PubSubHubbub -
>> http://code.google.com/p/pubsubhubbub/ .
>>
>>
>
> My mistake. I simply meant that users would have to get the RSS/Atom feed
> from another server, rather than having it sent to them.

Hrm. Maybe spend a minute or two reading through pubsubhubbub. it's a
"push" mechanism for RSS & Atom. the entries are *explicitly* sent to
them.

>>>>>
>>>>> What would the user experience be like?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I think the UX would be similar to Facebook, but different in the ways
>>>> we encourage communication.
>>>>
>>
>>
>
>



-- 
James Walker :: http://walkah.net/