4 ms·

Not directly answering your question, but does anybody know of any server software I can run to take part in such decentralised/federated/etc. networks, which i

Not directly answering your question, but does anybody know of any server software I can run to take part in such decentralised/federated/etc. networks, which isn't complicated by multi-user, Web-frontend bloat? GNU Social, pump.io, etc. and even Matrix, XMPP and IRC, etc. all seem to assume I want thousands of simultaneous users. I don't; I'm the only user, but I want to integrate into the network. Signing up for an account on someone else's server seems to defeat the point, yet I haven't found anything which I can run persistently on my server, access in a simple way (e.g. via SSH, a shared secret, a named pipe, etc.), and doesn't make me uncomfortable allowing it online (i.e. dynamic Web stuff). I used to use Laconica (AKA StatusNet AKA GNU Social) a lot via XMPP, but then identi.ca switched off their bridge, and then switched to pump.io which doesn't seem to work with anything other than a Web frontend. How would Usenet compare? I never got into it, but hear it's filled with spam :(

rakoo 10y ago
You're right, most systems assume multiple people want to register to the same instance of a server; I know twister (http://twister.net.co/ http://twister.net.co/) is not like that and is expected to be run as a single user
- chriswarbo 10y ago
  Very interesting. Going completely P2P avoids making a client/server distinction, and I could still run it continously on a server just in case connecting sporadically would miss content. I don't like the use of a blockchain though; it's a heavy requirement for something as simple as nickname assignment, which would actually be more flexible if it were done in the client anyway (in the same way that my Pidgin buddy list assigns names of my choosing to XMPP IDs).
mxuribe 10y ago
If I'm not mistaken, with Matrix you do not have to run a front-end per se. I believe you can simply setup a matrix home server, and then interact via an open source mobile/desktop/web application. This is not unlike old school email, where you can host your own email server, but manage email via any mobile/web/desktop email clients (of which you don't need to host the client side) . For example, I'm running a private (matrix) synapse home server for ONLY my family; as a test. I only interact via the mobile (open source) riot application (formerly named vector.im), though they do also offer a web application at https://riot.im https://riot.im . I simply point the client to my server's (appropriate matrix) url, and am off to the races - again internally for my family and I only at this point. My plan eventually is to keep running my own matrix home server, and open it up so that my family and I keep using any old client (like https://riot.im https://riot.im or whatever) BUT begin to interact with other users using matrix clients/servers, etc. My understanding is that what you wish to do ("...I'm the only user, but I want to integrate into the network") is actually quite common for folks beginning to use matrix. Give this a look-see: http://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html http://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html Alternatively - less ideal of course but - you can always lurk around on certain matrix-related rooms on the first/original matrix.org home server, and ask questions (on how you can set up your own server, etc.). Because I'm still in my own test phase, that's what I'm doing. Here are a few channels (via riot.im): * https://riot.im/app/#/room/#matrix:matrix.org https://riot.im/app/#/room/#matrix:matrix.org * https://riot.im/app/#/room/#riot:matrix.org https://riot.im/app/#/room/#riot:matrix.org * https://riot.im/app/#/room/#homeowners:matrix.org https://riot.im/app/#/room/#homeowners:matrix.org Good luck!
- chriswarbo 10y ago
  > If I'm not mistaken, with Matrix you do not have to run a front-end per se. I believe you can simply setup a matrix home server, and then interact via an open source mobile/desktop/web application. If by "front-end" you mean Web server, then as far as I'm aware none of these networks (GNU Social, pump.io, Matrix, XMPP, email, etc.) require one per se. The problem is finding an implementation which doesn't bundle one. Looking at the servers listed on matrix.org, it appears that Pallium makes this separation: you can run Pallium stand-alone, and connect to it using client applications (which may or may not be Web-based). Unfortunately, browsing the code for all of those servers, they all seem to include facilities for user registration, authentication, etc. Maybe that's a requirement of the way Matrix works? I know that, say, an IRC server which only allows a single user would be a lonely place, since chatrooms are hosted by a particular server which all participants must connect to (logically, at least; I know there are ways to implement redundancy like FreeNode does).
  - mxuribe 10y ago
    Head on over to: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse#synapse-installation https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse#synapse-installation ...Then scroll to the last paragraph of this section, "...By default, registration of new users is disabled." The little command line method is what i used to manually register the (3) accounts for my family on my private matrix server. If you plan on using it only for yourself, it might be best to keep registration disabled, and only add yourself manually via the command line...and then you would be done. As far as "web server", I think i know what you mean now, and admittedly I have my private matrix home server running behind nginx...but that's only because I've set it up via DigitalOcean, and simply picked one of their pre-set "LEMP" server images. I believe others have installed/run a matrix home server without nginx or apache, etc. Again, since this is all just a test for my family, i literally went into my DigitalOcean account, generated a new droplet (what they call their virtual servers), and picked a "LEMP" pre-set server. From there, i went installing the synapse server. Because nginx was already installed, I did have to forward/proxy stuff from nginx to synapse...I fully expect to kill this test matrix server off. Now having lived this, I would not have picked the LEMP image, instead just use a basic linux server from DigitalOcean and then install synapse (and any associated requirements/dependencies), that way it doesn't have nginx/apache, etc. I have no experience with Pallium, but I suppose because there are several different implementations (python-based, Go-based, etc.) of the matrix homeserver, there could be different nuances for implementation. Side note: The DigitalOcean droplet that I'm using for my private test matrix home server is the $5/month version (w/512MB memory, 20GB storage). Once I create the production matrix homeserver for my family, I was thinking on using the next level up $10/month version (1GB memory, 30GB storage).

rakoo 10y ago

You're right, most systems assume multiple people want to register to the same instance of a server; I know twister (http://twister.net.co/ http://twister.net.co/) is not like that and is expected to be run as a single user

chriswarbo 10y ago
Very interesting. Going completely P2P avoids making a client/server distinction, and I could still run it continously on a server just in case connecting sporadically would miss content. I don't like the use of a blockchain though; it's a heavy requirement for something as simple as nickname assignment, which would actually be more flexible if it were done in the client anyway (in the same way that my Pidgin buddy list assigns names of my choosing to XMPP IDs).

mxuribe 10y ago

If I'm not mistaken, with Matrix you do not have to run a front-end per se. I believe you can simply setup a matrix home server, and then interact via an open source mobile/desktop/web application. This is not unlike old school email, where you can host your own email server, but manage email via any mobile/web/desktop email clients (of which you don't need to host the client side) . For example, I'm running a private (matrix) synapse home server for ONLY my family; as a test. I only interact via the mobile (open source) riot application (formerly named vector.im), though they do also offer a web application at https://riot.im https://riot.im . I simply point the client to my server's (appropriate matrix) url, and am off to the races - again internally for my family and I only at this point. My plan eventually is to keep running my own matrix home server, and open it up so that my family and I keep using any old client (like https://riot.im https://riot.im or whatever) BUT begin to interact with other users using matrix clients/servers, etc. My understanding is that what you wish to do ("...I'm the only user, but I want to integrate into the network") is actually quite common for folks beginning to use matrix. Give this a look-see: http://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html http://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html Alternatively - less ideal of course but - you can always lurk around on certain matrix-related rooms on the first/original matrix.org home server, and ask questions (on how you can set up your own server, etc.). Because I'm still in my own test phase, that's what I'm doing. Here are a few channels (via riot.im): * https://riot.im/app/#/room/#matrix:matrix.org https://riot.im/app/#/room/#matrix:matrix.org * https://riot.im/app/#/room/#riot:matrix.org https://riot.im/app/#/room/#riot:matrix.org * https://riot.im/app/#/room/#homeowners:matrix.org https://riot.im/app/#/room/#homeowners:matrix.org Good luck!

chriswarbo 10y ago
> If I'm not mistaken, with Matrix you do not have to run a front-end per se. I believe you can simply setup a matrix home server, and then interact via an open source mobile/desktop/web application. If by "front-end" you mean Web server, then as far as I'm aware none of these networks (GNU Social, pump.io, Matrix, XMPP, email, etc.) require one per se. The problem is finding an implementation which doesn't bundle one. Looking at the servers listed on matrix.org, it appears that Pallium makes this separation: you can run Pallium stand-alone, and connect to it using client applications (which may or may not be Web-based). Unfortunately, browsing the code for all of those servers, they all seem to include facilities for user registration, authentication, etc. Maybe that's a requirement of the way Matrix works? I know that, say, an IRC server which only allows a single user would be a lonely place, since chatrooms are hosted by a particular server which all participants must connect to (logically, at least; I know there are ways to implement redundancy like FreeNode does).
- mxuribe 10y ago
  Head on over to: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse#synapse-installation https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse#synapse-installation ...Then scroll to the last paragraph of this section, "...By default, registration of new users is disabled." The little command line method is what i used to manually register the (3) accounts for my family on my private matrix server. If you plan on using it only for yourself, it might be best to keep registration disabled, and only add yourself manually via the command line...and then you would be done. As far as "web server", I think i know what you mean now, and admittedly I have my private matrix home server running behind nginx...but that's only because I've set it up via DigitalOcean, and simply picked one of their pre-set "LEMP" server images. I believe others have installed/run a matrix home server without nginx or apache, etc. Again, since this is all just a test for my family, i literally went into my DigitalOcean account, generated a new droplet (what they call their virtual servers), and picked a "LEMP" pre-set server. From there, i went installing the synapse server. Because nginx was already installed, I did have to forward/proxy stuff from nginx to synapse...I fully expect to kill this test matrix server off. Now having lived this, I would not have picked the LEMP image, instead just use a basic linux server from DigitalOcean and then install synapse (and any associated requirements/dependencies), that way it doesn't have nginx/apache, etc. I have no experience with Pallium, but I suppose because there are several different implementations (python-based, Go-based, etc.) of the matrix homeserver, there could be different nuances for implementation. Side note: The DigitalOcean droplet that I'm using for my private test matrix home server is the $5/month version (w/512MB memory, 20GB storage). Once I create the production matrix homeserver for my family, I was thinking on using the next level up $10/month version (1GB memory, 30GB storage).