[Freedombox-discuss] Finding a good place to start

[Jonas Smedegaard]

On Wed, Oct 06, 2010 at 11:17:06AM +0200, Christian Brædstrup wrote:
>I have been spot reading on the mailing list and as far as I can see 
>the main question now is the same that Erich asked in his mail: Where 
>do we start?

I would also like to emphasize Lars' proposal on August 23.


[snip]
>The French engineer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said"Perfection is 
>achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is 
>nothing left to take away." and I think that is what FB should be all 
>about.

+1


>I want my system to handle my mails, run a Diaspora server, share my 
>home files through a SSH connection, share my media with my PS3 on a 
>UPnP connection and nothing more. I don't need a webserver visible to 
>the outside world because I don't blog or host my own site.

Yeah, I suspect we all have slightly different opinions on which pieces 
FreedomBox should consist of.

My FreedomBox should include...
  * IPv6 routing
  * Mail storage and access [dovecot]
  * Chat [ejabberd]
  * VoIP [asterisk]
  * Static web pages w/ CGI editing [lighttpd, ikiwiki]
    + Includes FOAF profile w/ Fingerpoint
    + Includes OpenID
  * Cloning/recreation mechanism [git, gitweb, ssh]
    + Ability for me to replicate my system w/ data
    + Ability for all to replicate my system w/o data

My FreedomBox should *not* include...
  * Mail exchange [smtp]: spam handling is too CPU expensive
  * Java code: too big on disk and in memory
  * C# code: too big on disk
  * PHP code: too risky

When ready, my FreedomBox should probably add...
  * web-based configuration
    + must interact with Debian system, not override or bypass!
  * Web-based mail reader
    + Preferrably non-PHP code
  * Diaspora or similar
  * YaCy or similar
    + Preferably non-Java code


>My sugestion is to make a list on the wiki of what a base system with a 
>web GUI needs and a discussion about how best to build a solid base for 
>the system. All the programs we need to make this project work have 
>already been made FB needs to be that glue that binds them into one 
>platform.

+1


>I wasn't at the DebConf meeting and the limited info on the wiki 
>doesn't tell much about the broader discussion that properly went on so 
>I am sorry if my points have all ready been discussed but as I could 
>see on the wiki and mailing list it hasn't.

I attended Debconf10 but was surprised to hear some issues referred to 
as decided already - I somehow missed out on those discussions.

I suggest to simply treat any opinion not debated on this mailinglist as 
personal - not representative of this team as a whole.

I mean: Go ahead and edit the wiki, initiate discussions with other 
developers, and create FreedomBox instances - no need for approval at 
this list before acting. Just don't assume consensus on a topic not 
raised here.


Kind regards,

  - Jonas

-- 
   * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
   * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/

   [x] quote me freely  [ ] ask before reusing  [ ] keep private
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