Re: [Blocks-development] Future Direction For Blocks

[Erik M. <mo...@sc...>]

On 12 Aug 2000, at 18:30, Blat Froop wrote:

> Its beena bit quiet on the list recently

We're all eagerly waiting for the next release, considering the great 
features it will bring us ;-). I'm especially interested in sticky 
file support so that I can quickly start up a Blocks node with lots 
of files.

> V0.16 will still be released in a week or so, but the only
> significant changes will really be the addition of 'sticky'
> files

Yay!
 
> In the meantime I was thinking about the future direction
> of Blocks. There has been a lot of discussion around Michaels
> Web-Of-Trust idea, but so far there is no real substance
> availale for general discussion.

Before we go to ratings and authentication, we should clear the 
scalability issue and possible routing/resuming problems. We might 
want to do a little (!) bit of promotion to get a few more testers in.

> So, what do we want to do with Blocks?
> 
> Heres a few ideas off the top of my head...
> 
> 1) Allow (optional) HTTP access to servers, with search and
>    download ability. Perhaps upload as well. This would allow
>    modemers and people without always on inet connections
>    access to content on the Blocknet. If this were commonplace
>    perhaps the Blocknet would simply become a fancy backbone
>    to this larger systems supporting thousands of low bandwidth
>    users?

Interesting. There needs to be strict bandwidth regulation, though -- 
deny new connections if bandwidth is full.

> 2) Aim at giving good support for *huge* files. Currently
>    Blocks is inefficient for files < ~150Kb anyway, but there
>    seems to be a lack of file sharing utilities that are
>    particularly suitable for large files (video, CD images, etc). This
>    would require Blocks servers to have even larger chaches (at least
>    4+ Gb), and probably mean that files may have to be split across
>    more than one server... creating an informal mixnet. It might be
>    possible to simply split the large files into smaller ones and make
>    Blocks simply join them back up on download.

Can't we just use additional header blocks if necessary?

> 3) Add a rating/voting system. It could be possibly to broadcast
>    'issues' to vote on, and also allow people to broadcast 'votes' on
>    these issues and also on files as well. Now, because of the dynamic
>    nature of the Blocknet all the servers would have slightly
>    different results, but perhaps this woudlnt really matter.

Yes, ratings are very important, as I will continue to emphasize ;). 
Before we implement them, however, I suggest we create a way for each 
individual Blocks user to create an "identity" (i.e. nickname, 
public+private key). This could be attached to file adverts. Later, 
we can change the scope of adverts to include ratings, votes etc.

> 4) Add TCP/IP socket routing via the Blocknet. This would allow
>    IP anonymous surfing, irc, telnet, etc. 

Before we do this, we need some cleverer bandwidth regulation 
mechanisms, also WRT the scalability in a highly mixed connection 
speed network. I will write more on this as soon as I can get some 
work on the simulation done (I plan to do this before I go on 
vacation on August 25.)

Last but not least, no need to hurry. We're on no deadline and we 
want to get this thing done right. Of course, if you got too many 
unoccupied brain cells, you can help me with the simulator ;->.

Regards,
Erik
-- 
Scientific Reviewer, Freelancer, Humanist -- Berlin/Germany
Phone: +49-30-45491008 - Web: <http://www.humanist.de/erik>
The Origins of Peace and Violence: <http://www.violence.de>