Good to see the "you know this stuff will never catch on meme!!!" apparently never gets old but I think this quote was pretty key:<div><br></div><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px">If you want a project of this nature to see widespread use it will have to be fun, usable, and pretty.</span></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I don't think it's facetious to say that 'fun', whatever that actually is, will be absolutely key. People <i>love</i> to refresh Facebook endlessly, even though they're usually dissatisfied with what they get. I wonder whether it's possible to find a sweet spot where you still have some level of Gameyness to the experience of a social network, without all carefully tuned the psychological exploitation and carrot-and-stick stuff?</div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 7:15 AM, Joshua Spodek <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:joshuaspodek@yahoo.com">joshuaspodek@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
I commented on Freedombox on a site for entrepreneurially-minded hackers<br>
and programmers called Hacker News and got feedback that might be useful<br>
here. (It might not be useful so can always be ignored). I thought it<br>
offered constructive criticism from knowledgeable people.<br>
<br>
My post was on this thread, which was about Facebook using people's data<br>
more than they expect -- <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3554087" target="_blank">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3554087</a>.<br>
<br>
Here is the thread for convenience, though it lost formatting and<br>
nesting. The first post is by me. The rest are by others. The word<br>
"reply" separates each post.<br>
<br>
---------------------------------<br>
<br>
This is what Freedombox is for (also Diaspora). Freedombox is one of the<br>
few projects I make time to contribute to. I'm surprised it isn't one of<br>
the more popular projects among this community.<br>
<br>
Anyway, here are some links and background if you aren't familiar with<br>
it. From <a href="http://freedomboxfoundation.org" target="_blank">http://freedomboxfoundation.org</a> and<br>
<a href="http://freedomboxfoundation.org/learn" target="_blank">http://freedomboxfoundation.org/learn</a><br>
<br>
What is FreedomBox?<br>
<br>
Email and telecommunications that protects privacy and resists<br>
eavesdropping<br>
<br>
A publishing platform that resists oppression and censorship.<br>
<br>
An organizing tool for democratic activists in hostile regimes.<br>
<br>
An emergency communication network in times of crisis.<br>
<br>
<br>
If you live near New York City, there will be a hack-fest February 18,<br>
19, 20 (more information in first link above). I hope to see you there.<br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
naner 23 hours ago | link<br>
<br>
I'm surprised it isn't one of the more popular projects among this<br>
community.<br>
<br>
You shouldn't be. My values align roughly with that of the freedombox<br>
creators/developers but I can easily see this will have poorer adoption<br>
than other well-intentioned technology like PGP or gNewSense.<br>
<br>
If you want a project of this nature to see widespread use it will have<br>
to be fun, usable, and pretty.<br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
aw3c2 1 day ago | link<br>
<br>
You guys need a much simpler "what is freedombox". From the /learn text<br>
I only get the impression that it is "Tor in a dedicated box". Where is<br>
the social network?<br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
ryanklee 23 hours ago | link<br>
<br>
I gave it my five-second rule, and browsed away feeling totally ignorant<br>
of what the platform was about (or even if it was a platform).<br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Woost 23 hours ago | link<br>
<br>
Thirding. The "what is freedombox" posted here tells me basically<br>
nothing. It sounds closer to marketing fluff than an actual description<br>
of what freedombox is and does.<br>
<br>
Is it a social network? Twitter? Both? Something new? Why should I want<br>
to start using it, aside from claims of anonymity?<br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
pacala 1 day ago | link<br>
<br>
I follow a few high profile tech news source, but I never heard of<br>
Freedombox.<br>
<br>
One major worry I have about decentralized systems is crackers. It's<br>
hard enough to secure centralized systems using proprietary code behind<br>
firewalls managed by an army of experts. How can a decentralized system<br>
possibly avoid becoming a 0day distributed botnet?<br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
bootload 19 hours ago | link<br>
<br>
"... I follow a few high profile tech news source, but I never heard of<br>
Freedombox. ..."<br>
<br>
That's why it's important to read HN.<br>
<br>
Eben Moglen is one of the few lawyers I bother to listen too. It helps<br>
he has a CS background. Moglen did a talk at New York Technology Council<br>
& Internet Society, Friday, February 5, 2010 that outlined the idea<br>
behind the freedom box. I remember watching & listening to the recording<br>
just after the speech. It's worth the watch/listen to get the idea in<br>
full.<br>
<br>
The idea in short, "Own your own logs". Third parties can't infer what<br>
they don't have. The talk is located here<br>
<br>
- <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpHWnHxmnXg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpHWnHxmnXg</a><br>
<br>
- <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOEMv0S8AcA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOEMv0S8AcA</a><br>
<br>
or here for alternative AV formats ~ <a href="http://isoc-ny.org/?p=1338" target="_blank">http://isoc-ny.org/?p=1338</a><br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
thomaslangston 1 day ago | link<br>
<br>
> It's hard enough to secure centralized systems using proprietary code<br>
behind firewalls managed by an army of experts. How can a decentralized<br>
system possibly avoid becoming a 0day distributed botnet?<br>
<br>
I do not understand your concern.<br>
<br>
Centralized systems are easier to crack, not harder. Proprietary code<br>
may or may not be easier to crack, but I'd lean towards easier.<br>
Distributed systems do not require you to not have firewalls.<br>
Distributed systems do not require you to not have experts managing<br>
them. Nodes of a distributed system do not have to obey the commands of<br>
other nodes or have a central control mechanism.<br>
<br>
How would a decentralized system ever become a 0day botnet?<br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
pacala 1 day ago | link<br>
<br>
The point of Freedombox is that everyone has his data in his own home.<br>
If average Joe wants to share this data with his friends, average Joe is<br>
going to run a server in his home. If the server code has a 0day<br>
exploit, average Joe server easily becomes a node in a botnet.<br>
<br>
How do you address the problem of managing a fleet of 800 Million<br>
servers running in 800 Million homes? Who are the experts that manage<br>
this problem and who finances their work? Why would average Joe trust<br>
them with his data? What is the technical device through which they have<br>
admin access to 800 Million servers in 800 Million homes?<br>
<br>
reply<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
thomaslangston 13 hours ago | link<br>
<br>
That may be the setup of that project, but it isn't the status of every<br>
decentralized system. A decentralized system could as easily be funded<br>
by individual users buying hosted space with professional admins.<br>
<br>
I don't see the 0day exploit window of one additional application<br>
running on local users' boxes to be much cause for alarm. Somehow we<br>
muddled through decades of Windows boxes with everyone joining the Borg.<br>
<br>
<br>
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<a href="http://lists.alioth.debian.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss" target="_blank">http://lists.alioth.debian.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/freedombox-discuss</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br></div>