8 ms·

Patchwork – Decentralized messaging and sharing app built on Secure Scuttlebutt

167 points by mercer 9y ago

supergreg 9y ago
Are there gateways to see how it works before trying it out myself?
- Asturaz 9y ago
  It does not work like that, the gateway will not be able to show anything, and if you would like to go through a gateway you would have to share your secret key with that Gateway, which means full control of your log. The first time you use Secure Scuttlebutt will be boring because it will be an empty town, you will not have anything and you will not see anyone's feed either. The magic happens when you start following someone or you are at the same network as someone else your client start downloading the log of your friend and the log your friend have stored from their friends, and the feed is filled with information. You will even be able to view your social network offline and you will even be able to do comments in other peoples feeds and it will sync when you are online again. Most likley you will not be on the same network as anyone else which means you will not be able to see anyone so the solution is to walk in to a pub where almost everyone in the town are You will find a list of public pubs which can be used in Patchwork to access other feeds https://github.com/ssbc/scuttlebot/wiki/Pub-Servers https://github.com/ssbc/scuttlebot/wiki/Pub-Servers What the Pub solve is that you can download a bunch of peoples feed without they and their friends have to be online.
  - DividableMiddle 9y ago
    Although I understand the purpose of a new user having no data on first use I do not agree with it. Using a platform for the first time can be foreign and it eases the mind of the user if they can see what it would look like day-to-day. Maybe just have some test material and a very obvious button to wipe it clean when they are ready?
    - whimful 9y ago
      good idea, #somebodyshould implement it! If you're familiar with terminal, you can start the app, connect to a pub, have a play, and when you want to reset _everything_ including your identity, run : ``` rm -rf ~/.ssb ``` (this assumes mac / linux) Next time you start Patchwork a new identity will be made and you'll be starting from fresh
    - masukomi 9y ago
      If you follow the instructions in the Getting Started Guide [1] it will not be "an empty town". That would be a pretty crappy getting-started experience. Just connect to a pub and you'll find tons of content. I would also recommend AGAINST ever doing `rm -rf ~/.ssb` as one commenter suggested. That will wipe out your keys, and thus your identity, and you'll never be able to post anything as that identity again (unless you backed up your secret file or connected it to another identity (advanced usage)). [1]: https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html
- WorldMaker 9y ago
  Decent [1] is an entirely in-browser Secure Scuttlebutt fork with automatic key provisioning for easy onboarding. [1] http://decent.gwenbell.com/ http://decent.gwenbell.com/ ETA: More explanation directly on http://gwenbell.com http://gwenbell.com
- xj9 9y ago
  https://viewer.heropunch.io/channel/heropunch https://viewer.heropunch.io/channel/heropunch we also have a git-ssb gateway at https://git.heropunch.io https://git.heropunch.io sbot isn't super fast so be patient but don't worry about overloading the server we have plenty of extra capacity
Rhapso 9y ago
Are there plans to implement the ssb protocol in a language other than JS?
- happynaut 9y ago
  There's someone working on a rust implementation at the moment. I can't find a link to the repository just now, but there's plenty of threads on it if you search 'rust' at the top right of patchwork (after installing and adding a pub.) I'll find the repo and reply to this thread when I'm home later :) There were some previous efforts towards a Go implementation, but I'm not sure how far along they got: https://github.com/maackle/ssb-igo https://github.com/maackle/ssb-igo By the way, there's some beautiful protocol docs for scuttlebutt here: https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/ https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/ =]
  - hardfire 9y ago
    just noticed that the go implementation you linked to [https://github.com/maackle/ssb-igo https://github.com/maackle/ssb-igo] is actually "the game of Go on ssb"
    - happynaut 9y ago
      Haha, woops! I meant https://github.com/andyleap/go-ssb https://github.com/andyleap/go-ssb I guess it was muscle memory since I was looking at the ssb-igo repo earlier.
      - maackle 9y ago
        A great game, a programming language, and the 49th most common word in the English language walk into a bar...
  - Rhapso 9y ago
    Thanks, I really like the core ideas of ssb but the nodejs implementation and lack of a security review give me a lot of professional reservations. I'm inclined to fork and use a more off the shelf method of securing p2p connections. The practice of binding a "secure" web-server to localhost is also a bit [dubious](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/86773/how-secure-is-binding-to-localhost-in-order-to-prevent-remote-connections https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/86773/how-secur...).
tptacek 9y ago
Is there a concise description of the ssb protocol somewhere? I tried reading the ssb website but it's too conversational; I can't get a grip on what the actual cryptography is.
- staltz 9y ago
  This here is a great technical description of the protocol: https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/ https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/
  - _pferreir_ 9y ago
    Oh cool! This would have been super useful while working on the Python implementation :)
- kawfey 9y ago
  Here's a good overview video on it's use case: https://vimeo.com/236358264 https://vimeo.com/236358264
- lgierth 9y ago
  And here's a doc covering only the secure network transport: https://github.com/auditdrivencrypto/secret-handshake https://github.com/auditdrivencrypto/secret-handshake
Cyberdog 9y ago
How does this compare to Mastodon/GNU social? From what I can tell, this is inviting me to run a P2P program on my own system rather than on a server; is that just an implementation detail?
- bencevans 9y ago
  You've got it! You run a P2P system on your local machine... in theory, you don't need the internet to communicate. Messages can be sent via your friends hopping between LANs using the underlying gossip protocol.
- whimful 9y ago
  it's like federation, but at the level of a user. Much easier to set up, much easier to curate / moderate what you want to see. There's still emergent community in the space, it's just not tied to the politics of hardware
  - Cyberdog 9y ago
    > it's just not tied to the politics of hardware What do you mean by this? Is there some sort of hardware politics battle in the GNU social community or something?
    - setra 9y ago
      When someone else runs the server you use, and your account is tied to their server, you are at the whims of the server owner, and are not able to migrate your identity.
  - masukomi 9y ago
    I wouldn't say it's "like federation" at all. In no scenario do you have an entire group of people who suddenly loose their accounts and connections if the owner of the "server" they connect to decides to stop hosting it (as has happened with many mastodon instances). In addition in works offline (including images). Many of us catch up with friends and reply to their posts when on the train, plain, boat, road, whatever and sync up when we get to a net connection, or local connection to a local friend with SSB.
whimful 9y ago
There are many apps built on Scuttlebutt (the p2p database/ protocol Patchwork is built on) Check them out here : https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/applications.html https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/applications.html That site also has a good FAQ and other background info.
whimful 9y ago
If you want to check out the deep end, here's some writing which captures some of the _vibe_ of the community building this sociotechnical space https://coolguy.website/writing/the-future-will-be-technical/index.html https://coolguy.website/writing/the-future-will-be-technical...
- tomcooks 9y ago
  Mixed feelings about these writings. All great for the vibes, but _personally_ I'd rather read tutorials on how to get it running easily on an old solar powered raspberry pi, or how to install it on my dad's phone. The introductory video [0] to Scuttlebutt is an excellent example of concise, hands down, brief explanation on why this software is important (vibes + useful). Tutorials and brief explanation change the future better than solarpunk short stories. Rock on! [0] https://vimeo.com/236358264 https://vimeo.com/236358264
  - masukomi 9y ago
    The getting started guide [1] is pretty comprehensive, I think. Let me know if there's something you think is missing. There phone version is _very_ alpha still. Installing it on your solar powered raspberry pi is just a matter of downloading the AppImage from the releases page [2]. I'd also note that if you actually have a solar powered raspberry you'll probably fit right in. There are a lot of "solarpunk" people on the network. [1]: https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html [2]: https://github.com/ssbc/patchwork/releases https://github.com/ssbc/patchwork/releases
    - tomcooks 9y ago
      Yup been on sbb since saltz's article a while ago on HN, proud member of #solarpunk
  - masukomi 9y ago
    forgot to mention. There's a post with instructions [1] for setting up scuttlebutt on a Raspberry Pi Pirate box. I'd link you to it on the web but the user has chosen not to have their posts shown on our public gateways, but if you join the network you can just throw this in the search field and you'll see all the details. [1] %DI98y9SukdIcd0RW5mp9MRc0mxHziGLP/+PNUu59pO8=.sha256
mr_spothawk 9y ago
such a wonderful community of folks there. i log on once every several days and sus leave pleased. also, it’s a nomadic group, and i’ve been pleased to meet a few other community members in person. i recommend SSB to my friends as the place to find me if all hell breaks loose
ideashower 9y ago
So I see that in order to communicate outside your local network you need to connect to a pub. Can you set up a private, invite only pub? Say for an organization or team?
- internalfx 9y ago
  Yes you can. https://github.com/staltz/easy-ssb-pub https://github.com/staltz/easy-ssb-pub
- masukomi 9y ago
  i would actually recommend ssb-pub [1] over ssb-easy-pub. ssb-pub is private and has no ui. You generate invite codes on the command line. ssb-easy-pub does provide a web UI so that people can request invite codes easily BUT the codebase is in need of some TLC and is difficult to get running easily. ssb-pub is trivial to set up, especially if you use the one-click installer. [1]: https://github.com/ahdinosaur/ssb-pub#readme https://github.com/ahdinosaur/ssb-pub#readme
marknadal 9y ago
Congrats Dominic and co! I saw that even Julian Assange was recommending scuttlebutt on Twitter!! A couple people have asked about browser based access and some people have replied that that wouldn't work? Could somebody explain why? Me and Dominic have debated design a couple times, and on my own system we have P2P cryptographic identities working just fine in the browser (see https://hackernoon.com/so-you-want-to-build-a-p2p-twitter-with-e2e-encryption-f90505b2ff8 https://hackernoon.com/so-you-want-to-build-a-p2p-twitter-wi... for an example), so this should be possible with scuttlebutt also. Could anyone explain further?
- no_identd 9y ago
  Sorry to semi-hijack your comment there, but, could you perhaps outline the functional differences (besides the extremely obvious ones like "it's not the same protocol") between Patchwork, Briar (Check the 34C3 talk on Briar if you find yourself unfamiliar with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJ8vIh3dVU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJ8vIh3dVU - albeit I kind of doubt that'd end up the case), and secushare (see http://secushare.org/comparison http://secushare.org/comparison)? They seem to try to cover many of the same points, but they also seem to have quite a few differences. I primarily ask because secushare hasn't yet updated their comparison page to include Patchwork (although it already covers SSB), and because that same page has yet to account for the release version of Briar. Edit: Nevermind the difference to secushare, I've noticed secureshare has an entry on Patchwork in their FAQ, just not on their comparison page: http://secushare.org/answers http://secushare.org/answers
  - marknadal 9y ago
    Apologies, I haven't heard of either of these things before. So you'd know more than me!
- staltz 9y ago
  Hi Mark. What's the underlying database used there? SSB in the browser is a subproject we're pushing forwards sometimes, but it's progressing slowly. One of the main obstacles is IndexedDB which seems to be much worse (in many aspects) than LevelDB, upon which SSB used to base itself. Nowadays SSB is based on FlumeDB, which is often backed by just the filesystem. Then there are other obstacles like building P2P connections through WebRTC.
internalfx 9y ago
I really like this. I decided to host a pub for tech enthusiasts. technology.ssb-pub.com
- masukomi 9y ago
  cool. I see you've added it to the wiki. You should probably mention it with the #scuttlebutt tag as well as just saying hello in #new-people :)
ewok 9y ago
This sounds very interesting. I hoped for somebody starting a better(decentralized) signal client! Owning your own pub is nice. You got me in! Thanks for sharing.
- masukomi 9y ago
  owning your own pub is cool, but most of us don't bother because you really don't need one to use the system. Well, you don't need _your own_. There's active work going on to improve the support for private groups. if you do want to set up a pub i'd recommend ssb-pub. It's trivial to get up and running (but is command line only). easy-ssb-pub provides a web UI that your friends could request invites from but it needs some TLC right now. https://github.com/ahdinosaur/ssb-pub#readme https://github.com/ahdinosaur/ssb-pub#readme
mceoin 9y ago
I have been using SSB for a while now. Great community vibe so far, and no ads!
htor 9y ago
come join the community! there are good things to be discovered for everyone. fruitful conversations, ideas and people, not profiles.
tomcooks 9y ago
Can't wait for the mobile version, that will speed up adoption. MMMMM0[0] for Android looks promising [0] https://github.com/staltz/mmmmm-mobile https://github.com/staltz/mmmmm-mobile
mike-cardwell 9y ago
Will this get an events organisation feature like Facebooks? Because if so, I'm sold. Or is it just like all of the other federated/distributed social networks that are limited to simple message feeds only?
- happynaut 9y ago
  It's already got an events organisation feature :). It's called 'gatherings' in patchwork (and other clients too.) Here's a screenshot of a gathering: https://imgur.com/PbB8R9q https://imgur.com/PbB8R9q Nope - it's not limited to simple message feeds. For example, I was able to implement a chess app and integrate it into one of the scuttlebutt viewer clients (patchbay): https://github.com/Happy0/ssb-chess https://github.com/Happy0/ssb-chess. Someone's working on a Go (game) app too :). There is an app for discussing and reviewing books too - and some of the messages for this app are rendered on the main feed too (alongside gatherings and other things.) More information about apps here: https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/applications.html https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/applications.html
  - happynaut 9y ago
    Here's a screenshot of a gathering rendered on the feed: https://imgur.com/a/NfCSL https://imgur.com/a/NfCSL :D
  - mike-cardwell 9y ago
    Well. I will definitely be setting this up then. Thanks for the pointers.
    - happynaut 9y ago
      Awesome :). Let me know if you need a hand with any of the setup.
      - mike-cardwell 9y ago
        Well. I created a gathering. The UI gives me no indication of who can see it; if it's public or private. The UI gives me no indication of how I can "invite" people to it so they can see it (if it's even private). The UI could do with some work.

167 points by mercer 9y ago

supergreg 9y ago

Are there gateways to see how it works before trying it out myself?

Asturaz 9y ago
It does not work like that, the gateway will not be able to show anything, and if you would like to go through a gateway you would have to share your secret key with that Gateway, which means full control of your log. The first time you use Secure Scuttlebutt will be boring because it will be an empty town, you will not have anything and you will not see anyone's feed either. The magic happens when you start following someone or you are at the same network as someone else your client start downloading the log of your friend and the log your friend have stored from their friends, and the feed is filled with information. You will even be able to view your social network offline and you will even be able to do comments in other peoples feeds and it will sync when you are online again. Most likley you will not be on the same network as anyone else which means you will not be able to see anyone so the solution is to walk in to a pub where almost everyone in the town are You will find a list of public pubs which can be used in Patchwork to access other feeds https://github.com/ssbc/scuttlebot/wiki/Pub-Servers https://github.com/ssbc/scuttlebot/wiki/Pub-Servers What the Pub solve is that you can download a bunch of peoples feed without they and their friends have to be online.
- DividableMiddle 9y ago
  Although I understand the purpose of a new user having no data on first use I do not agree with it. Using a platform for the first time can be foreign and it eases the mind of the user if they can see what it would look like day-to-day. Maybe just have some test material and a very obvious button to wipe it clean when they are ready?
  - whimful 9y ago
    good idea, #somebodyshould implement it! If you're familiar with terminal, you can start the app, connect to a pub, have a play, and when you want to reset _everything_ including your identity, run : ``` rm -rf ~/.ssb ``` (this assumes mac / linux) Next time you start Patchwork a new identity will be made and you'll be starting from fresh
  - masukomi 9y ago
    If you follow the instructions in the Getting Started Guide [1] it will not be "an empty town". That would be a pretty crappy getting-started experience. Just connect to a pub and you'll find tons of content. I would also recommend AGAINST ever doing `rm -rf ~/.ssb` as one commenter suggested. That will wipe out your keys, and thus your identity, and you'll never be able to post anything as that identity again (unless you backed up your secret file or connected it to another identity (advanced usage)). [1]: https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html
WorldMaker 9y ago
Decent [1] is an entirely in-browser Secure Scuttlebutt fork with automatic key provisioning for easy onboarding. [1] http://decent.gwenbell.com/ http://decent.gwenbell.com/ ETA: More explanation directly on http://gwenbell.com http://gwenbell.com
xj9 9y ago
https://viewer.heropunch.io/channel/heropunch https://viewer.heropunch.io/channel/heropunch we also have a git-ssb gateway at https://git.heropunch.io https://git.heropunch.io sbot isn't super fast so be patient but don't worry about overloading the server we have plenty of extra capacity

Rhapso 9y ago

Are there plans to implement the ssb protocol in a language other than JS?

happynaut 9y ago
There's someone working on a rust implementation at the moment. I can't find a link to the repository just now, but there's plenty of threads on it if you search 'rust' at the top right of patchwork (after installing and adding a pub.) I'll find the repo and reply to this thread when I'm home later :) There were some previous efforts towards a Go implementation, but I'm not sure how far along they got: https://github.com/maackle/ssb-igo https://github.com/maackle/ssb-igo By the way, there's some beautiful protocol docs for scuttlebutt here: https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/ https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/ =]
- hardfire 9y ago
  just noticed that the go implementation you linked to [https://github.com/maackle/ssb-igo https://github.com/maackle/ssb-igo] is actually "the game of Go on ssb"
  - happynaut 9y ago
    Haha, woops! I meant https://github.com/andyleap/go-ssb https://github.com/andyleap/go-ssb I guess it was muscle memory since I was looking at the ssb-igo repo earlier.
    - maackle 9y ago
      A great game, a programming language, and the 49th most common word in the English language walk into a bar...
- Rhapso 9y ago
  Thanks, I really like the core ideas of ssb but the nodejs implementation and lack of a security review give me a lot of professional reservations. I'm inclined to fork and use a more off the shelf method of securing p2p connections. The practice of binding a "secure" web-server to localhost is also a bit [dubious](https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/86773/how-secure-is-binding-to-localhost-in-order-to-prevent-remote-connections https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/86773/how-secur...).

tptacek 9y ago

Is there a concise description of the ssb protocol somewhere? I tried reading the ssb website but it's too conversational; I can't get a grip on what the actual cryptography is.

staltz 9y ago
This here is a great technical description of the protocol: https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/ https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/
- _pferreir_ 9y ago
  Oh cool! This would have been super useful while working on the Python implementation :)
kawfey 9y ago
Here's a good overview video on it's use case: https://vimeo.com/236358264 https://vimeo.com/236358264
lgierth 9y ago
And here's a doc covering only the secure network transport: https://github.com/auditdrivencrypto/secret-handshake https://github.com/auditdrivencrypto/secret-handshake

Cyberdog 9y ago

How does this compare to Mastodon/GNU social? From what I can tell, this is inviting me to run a P2P program on my own system rather than on a server; is that just an implementation detail?

bencevans 9y ago
You've got it! You run a P2P system on your local machine... in theory, you don't need the internet to communicate. Messages can be sent via your friends hopping between LANs using the underlying gossip protocol.
whimful 9y ago
it's like federation, but at the level of a user. Much easier to set up, much easier to curate / moderate what you want to see. There's still emergent community in the space, it's just not tied to the politics of hardware
- Cyberdog 9y ago
  > it's just not tied to the politics of hardware What do you mean by this? Is there some sort of hardware politics battle in the GNU social community or something?
  - setra 9y ago
    When someone else runs the server you use, and your account is tied to their server, you are at the whims of the server owner, and are not able to migrate your identity.
- masukomi 9y ago
  I wouldn't say it's "like federation" at all. In no scenario do you have an entire group of people who suddenly loose their accounts and connections if the owner of the "server" they connect to decides to stop hosting it (as has happened with many mastodon instances). In addition in works offline (including images). Many of us catch up with friends and reply to their posts when on the train, plain, boat, road, whatever and sync up when we get to a net connection, or local connection to a local friend with SSB.

whimful 9y ago

There are many apps built on Scuttlebutt (the p2p database/ protocol Patchwork is built on) Check them out here : https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/applications.html https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/applications.html That site also has a good FAQ and other background info.

whimful 9y ago

If you want to check out the deep end, here's some writing which captures some of the _vibe_ of the community building this sociotechnical space https://coolguy.website/writing/the-future-will-be-technical/index.html https://coolguy.website/writing/the-future-will-be-technical...

tomcooks 9y ago
Mixed feelings about these writings. All great for the vibes, but _personally_ I'd rather read tutorials on how to get it running easily on an old solar powered raspberry pi, or how to install it on my dad's phone. The introductory video [0] to Scuttlebutt is an excellent example of concise, hands down, brief explanation on why this software is important (vibes + useful). Tutorials and brief explanation change the future better than solarpunk short stories. Rock on! [0] https://vimeo.com/236358264 https://vimeo.com/236358264
- masukomi 9y ago
  The getting started guide [1] is pretty comprehensive, I think. Let me know if there's something you think is missing. There phone version is _very_ alpha still. Installing it on your solar powered raspberry pi is just a matter of downloading the AppImage from the releases page [2]. I'd also note that if you actually have a solar powered raspberry you'll probably fit right in. There are a lot of "solarpunk" people on the network. [1]: https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/getting-started.html [2]: https://github.com/ssbc/patchwork/releases https://github.com/ssbc/patchwork/releases
  - tomcooks 9y ago
    Yup been on sbb since saltz's article a while ago on HN, proud member of #solarpunk
- masukomi 9y ago
  forgot to mention. There's a post with instructions [1] for setting up scuttlebutt on a Raspberry Pi Pirate box. I'd link you to it on the web but the user has chosen not to have their posts shown on our public gateways, but if you join the network you can just throw this in the search field and you'll see all the details. [1] %DI98y9SukdIcd0RW5mp9MRc0mxHziGLP/+PNUu59pO8=.sha256

mr_spothawk 9y ago

such a wonderful community of folks there. i log on once every several days and sus leave pleased. also, it’s a nomadic group, and i’ve been pleased to meet a few other community members in person. i recommend SSB to my friends as the place to find me if all hell breaks loose

ideashower 9y ago

So I see that in order to communicate outside your local network you need to connect to a pub. Can you set up a private, invite only pub? Say for an organization or team?

internalfx 9y ago
Yes you can. https://github.com/staltz/easy-ssb-pub https://github.com/staltz/easy-ssb-pub
masukomi 9y ago
i would actually recommend ssb-pub [1] over ssb-easy-pub. ssb-pub is private and has no ui. You generate invite codes on the command line. ssb-easy-pub does provide a web UI so that people can request invite codes easily BUT the codebase is in need of some TLC and is difficult to get running easily. ssb-pub is trivial to set up, especially if you use the one-click installer. [1]: https://github.com/ahdinosaur/ssb-pub#readme https://github.com/ahdinosaur/ssb-pub#readme

marknadal 9y ago

Congrats Dominic and co! I saw that even Julian Assange was recommending scuttlebutt on Twitter!! A couple people have asked about browser based access and some people have replied that that wouldn't work? Could somebody explain why? Me and Dominic have debated design a couple times, and on my own system we have P2P cryptographic identities working just fine in the browser (see https://hackernoon.com/so-you-want-to-build-a-p2p-twitter-with-e2e-encryption-f90505b2ff8 https://hackernoon.com/so-you-want-to-build-a-p2p-twitter-wi... for an example), so this should be possible with scuttlebutt also. Could anyone explain further?

no_identd 9y ago
Sorry to semi-hijack your comment there, but, could you perhaps outline the functional differences (besides the extremely obvious ones like "it's not the same protocol") between Patchwork, Briar (Check the 34C3 talk on Briar if you find yourself unfamiliar with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJ8vIh3dVU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJ8vIh3dVU - albeit I kind of doubt that'd end up the case), and secushare (see http://secushare.org/comparison http://secushare.org/comparison)? They seem to try to cover many of the same points, but they also seem to have quite a few differences. I primarily ask because secushare hasn't yet updated their comparison page to include Patchwork (although it already covers SSB), and because that same page has yet to account for the release version of Briar. Edit: Nevermind the difference to secushare, I've noticed secureshare has an entry on Patchwork in their FAQ, just not on their comparison page: http://secushare.org/answers http://secushare.org/answers
- marknadal 9y ago
  Apologies, I haven't heard of either of these things before. So you'd know more than me!
staltz 9y ago
Hi Mark. What's the underlying database used there? SSB in the browser is a subproject we're pushing forwards sometimes, but it's progressing slowly. One of the main obstacles is IndexedDB which seems to be much worse (in many aspects) than LevelDB, upon which SSB used to base itself. Nowadays SSB is based on FlumeDB, which is often backed by just the filesystem. Then there are other obstacles like building P2P connections through WebRTC.

internalfx 9y ago

I really like this. I decided to host a pub for tech enthusiasts. technology.ssb-pub.com

masukomi 9y ago
cool. I see you've added it to the wiki. You should probably mention it with the #scuttlebutt tag as well as just saying hello in #new-people :)

ewok 9y ago

This sounds very interesting. I hoped for somebody starting a better(decentralized) signal client! Owning your own pub is nice. You got me in! Thanks for sharing.

masukomi 9y ago
owning your own pub is cool, but most of us don't bother because you really don't need one to use the system. Well, you don't need _your own_. There's active work going on to improve the support for private groups. if you do want to set up a pub i'd recommend ssb-pub. It's trivial to get up and running (but is command line only). easy-ssb-pub provides a web UI that your friends could request invites from but it needs some TLC right now. https://github.com/ahdinosaur/ssb-pub#readme https://github.com/ahdinosaur/ssb-pub#readme

mceoin 9y ago

I have been using SSB for a while now. Great community vibe so far, and no ads!

htor 9y ago

come join the community! there are good things to be discovered for everyone. fruitful conversations, ideas and people, not profiles.

tomcooks 9y ago

Can't wait for the mobile version, that will speed up adoption. MMMMM0[0] for Android looks promising [0] https://github.com/staltz/mmmmm-mobile https://github.com/staltz/mmmmm-mobile

mike-cardwell 9y ago

Will this get an events organisation feature like Facebooks? Because if so, I'm sold. Or is it just like all of the other federated/distributed social networks that are limited to simple message feeds only?

happynaut 9y ago
It's already got an events organisation feature :). It's called 'gatherings' in patchwork (and other clients too.) Here's a screenshot of a gathering: https://imgur.com/PbB8R9q https://imgur.com/PbB8R9q Nope - it's not limited to simple message feeds. For example, I was able to implement a chess app and integrate it into one of the scuttlebutt viewer clients (patchbay): https://github.com/Happy0/ssb-chess https://github.com/Happy0/ssb-chess. Someone's working on a Go (game) app too :). There is an app for discussing and reviewing books too - and some of the messages for this app are rendered on the main feed too (alongside gatherings and other things.) More information about apps here: https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/applications.html https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/applications.html
- happynaut 9y ago
  Here's a screenshot of a gathering rendered on the feed: https://imgur.com/a/NfCSL https://imgur.com/a/NfCSL :D
- mike-cardwell 9y ago
  Well. I will definitely be setting this up then. Thanks for the pointers.
  - happynaut 9y ago
    Awesome :). Let me know if you need a hand with any of the setup.
    - mike-cardwell 9y ago
      Well. I created a gathering. The UI gives me no indication of who can see it; if it's public or private. The UI gives me no indication of how I can "invite" people to it so they can see it (if it's even private). The UI could do with some work.