Joseph, You may be right, one platform can't do everything, but I am hopeful that we can get a platform with a 1) data model 2) communications/syncing model and 3) and apps development model that can accommodate the goals for my Nkommo project. We start by walking, suss it out and then move on. If I get involved in this again, my timeline is probably more aggressive, for those who want to seek funding sooner.
All the best, John Blossom email: jblos...@gmail.com phone: 203.293.8511 google+: google.com/+JohnBlossom On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 3:42 PM, Joseph Gentle <jose...@gmail.com> wrote: > Will do. As I said, I don't anticipate starting the kickstarter for > about a year, though I want to do preliminary work (prototyping out > some of the protocols and such) now. > > John I agree that (1) and (2) are the most interesting parts. But I'm > not sure that this is the right tool to build *everything* on top of. > We should start with the platform and get people building stuff on top > of it. > > -J > > On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 12:05 PM, John Blossom <jblos...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Joseph, > > > > Thanks for chiming in. I'd be interested in getting crowdsourced > financing > > for this also. We don't have a major corporation funding our lifestyles > to > > enable such work, so we need something. > > > > I am in general agreement with your overall plan, though as I've stated > > before, once you have 1) and 2) done right then there's so much more that > > the platform could/should do besides an email replacement. I do think > that > > the "internet of things" is a key opportunity for such a communications > and > > data management model, merged with secure, network-independent > > communications. Nkommo can't really move forward without that combo. > > > > As for the name, all things are possible once it's on Github, it seems. A > > fresh start might be in order. > > > > Please keep me in the loop, I'd be glad to help push things in this > > direction. Without funding, we're nowhere. > > > > All the best, > > > > John Blossom > > > > email: jblos...@gmail.com > > phone: 203.293.8511 > > google+: google.com/+JohnBlossom > > > > > > On Sat, Nov 30, 2013 at 11:03 PM, Joseph Gentle <jose...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > >> I still really want to make the wave platform we've been talking about > >> for awhile. I just don't have any time because I need to work to eat. > >> > >> So I've spent the last month thinking about running a kickstarter to > >> fund the work. Christian's email was really timely. > >> > >> > >> I want arbitrary JSON documents, or arbitrary embedding like we talked > >> about a few months ago. > >> > >> I want a protocol based on real P2P algorithms rather than the hacky > >> mess we have at the moment with trees of servers connecting via an > >> XMPP extension > >> > >> I want the same fundamental protocol to work server-server or > >> server-client. The OT stuff should work like git. > >> > >> No single person can maintain our 500k of legacy java code. I want to > >> write a better version with much cleaner separation of OT protocol and > >> application specifics. I still want a web client, but it should be > >> written in pure javascript. > >> > >> Messages should be cryptographically secure from snooping. > >> > >> > >> The way I see it, there's fundamentally three pieces that make up wave: > >> > >> 1. A set of OT primitives which allow peers to generate & interpret > >> operations > >> 2. A platform on top of (1) for exchanging operations between networked > >> peers > >> 3. An application on top of (2) which is trying to replace email > >> > >> These pieces should be separate from one another, and usable in other > >> contexts. > >> > >> I have a clear idea of how we can make (1) and (2) work. The OT part > >> we've talked about on the list and I've been slowly prototyping out > >> here: http://github.com/josephg/tp2stuff > >> > >> I have a bunch of applications I want to build on top of a platform > >> like this. For example, I want my text editor, compiler & unit tests > >> to all talk to one another so my text editor doesn't need > >> language-specific completion or syntax checking, and so my friends can > >> jump in and help me code. > >> > >> I don't know what the best way to build (3) is - but I'm more than > >> happy to build the platform that a new kind of email could be built on > >> top of. Maybe the current WIAB design is totally fine for that part - > >> though I want end-to-end encryption. > >> > >> I don't know when the right time to do this would be. I don't know if > >> I should work alone or if we should put a team together (Hi Ali!). If > >> I were to do this properly it would take about a month of prep to get > >> a kickstarter together, and if it is successful I'd want to quit my > >> job to do it. I think it'd take me about 6 months to a year of work to > >> get a stable, secure platform working (probably closer to a year), and > >> I'm also not allowed to stay in the US without an employer on my visa. > >> > >> The earliest this will probably happen is the end of the year. > >> > >> Kickstarter might also not be the right way to fund it. Cryptocat was > >> funded in 2012 mostly by Radio Free Asia's Open Tech Fund[1] to the > >> tune of ~$100k. A kickstarter would give us users (great) and > >> publicity, but the right private sponsor might also work. > >> > >> Maybe the most contentious part of all, I don't think I'd want to call > >> it wave. But it really would be the grandchild of what we've been > >> working on all this time. > >> > >> Thats my thoughts. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears. As I say, > >> I'm keen to build this, but I'm too old to live on ramen in a granny > >> shack. This thing we've been working toward has real value, and could > >> be put to great effect if we can actually make it good. > >> > >> -J > >> > >> > >> > >> [1] https://crypto.cat/documents/report-1213.pdf > >> https://www.opentechfund.org/ > >> >
