DistOS-2011W Diaspora - Revision history

Cha0s at 12:16, 3 March 2011

2011-03-03T12:16:19Z

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 ''Steps used in setting up cha0sPod can be found at Diaspora's main site.''[https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Installing-and-Running-Diaspora]
-The next step is installing some additional software. The following section includes the title of the software, a brief explanation of what it does, and the command for installing it in Ubuntu.
+The next step is installing some additional software. This section is pretty straight forward, it's just installing packages from command line. These instructions can be found on the wiki setup page for Diaspora, linked above.
 With all the prep work completed, my system is ready to host a new Diaspora pod. The details of that are outlined in the next section.
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 ===Personal Review===
-Diaspora aims to create a social network that prioritizes privacy, and it does just that. Through the usage of servers owned by the clients, and the concept of aspects, information posted can only be accessed by the users it's intended for. The Diaspora interface abstracts the individual pods so as to appear as a single system successfully, though there are major bugs that prevent the Diaspora from being used as a legitimate social network at this point in time. These results are hardly surprising, given that Diaspora is still in its "Alpha" stage of testing.
+Diaspora aims to create a social network that prioritizes privacy, and it does just that. Through the usage of servers owned by the clients, and the concept of aspects, information posted can only be accessed by the users it's intended for. As of right now, setting up a personal pod can be fairly tricky, as there are a few odd bugs that will hinder your progress unless you figure out what is going wrong. I myself had to manually create one of the datbases, along with opting to use a different server package than the default. The Diaspora interface abstracts the individual pods so as to appear as a single system successfully, though there are major bugs that prevent Diaspora from being used as a legitimate social network at this point in time. Specifically, there appears to be an issue with communication between pods at this moment. These results are hardly surprising, given that Diaspora is still in its "Alpha" stage of testing.
 Diaspora has shown a lot of promise from my usage of it, and will only get better as more services are integrated into it. Overall, this experience has been a positive one, even though there were a few difficulties trying to get the server to run, and I plan on creating a legitimate pod on a remote server for my personal usage.

Cha0s: /* Attaching Pod to Apache */

2011-03-01T14:29:32Z

Attaching Pod to Apache

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	As I already have an Apache server set up, the first step to attaching my Diaspora instance to my Apache server is to install the passenger module. The passenger module allows Apache to serve Ruby on Rails applications, such as Diaspora. The code to install passenger is as follows:		As I already have an Apache server set up, the first step to attaching my Diaspora instance to my Apache server is to install the passenger module. The passenger module allows Apache to serve Ruby on Rails applications, such as Diaspora. The code to install passenger is as follows:
	~~gem install passenger~~

	passenger-install-apache2-module		gem install passenger
			passenger-install-apache2-module

	The guide says to load the module into Apache Config, but it did this automatically for me, so I just skipped that step.		The guide says to load the module into Apache Config, but it did this automatically for me, so I just skipped that step.

Cha0s at 14:26, 1 March 2011

2011-03-01T14:26:03Z

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	[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html?_r=1].		=cha0sPod=
			cha0sPod is currently offline, as I am setting a pod up on a remote server rather than a home server to improve performance. Link will be posted in this section upon it going live.
			==Introduction==
			For my implementation report, I will be setting up and using a server running Diaspora. Diaspora is a distributed social network meant to directly compete with centralized social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. My report will focus on my personal experience with Diaspora, both as an administrator as well as a client. Due to time constraints, most of the administrator reporting will involve setting up the pod, while the client portion will focus on the interactions of two test user accounts.

			Section 2 describes the specifics of Diaspora, particularly how it functions from the client's perspective, Section 3 covers my experience in setting up a Diaspora pod, Section 4 includes additional details in regards to the management of the cha0sPod, Section 5 covers my experience in using Diaspora as a client, Section 6 contains my conclusion, and Section 7 includes all references made in the document.

			==What Is Diaspora?==
			===Diaspora: Distributed Social Networking===
			Diaspora is designed to decentralize social networks, so that privacy can more easily be managed by the individual user. With a centralized social network, all information, messages, and pictures posted are effectively owned by the corporation hosting the network. The idea of sacrificing all of your privacy in exchange for a service is exactly what Diaspora hopes to prevent [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html?_r=1].

	How it accomplishes this is the utilization of user-owned servers, called "pods". Pods are used to host content, such as status updates and pictures, and communicate with other pods so that the content is available across the network. Users may either create a pod, join an associate's, or sign up in a pod open to the public. In any case, Diaspora prioritizes user privacy using a number of methods, which are described below [https://joindiaspora.com/].		How it accomplishes this is the utilization of user-owned servers, called "pods". Pods are used to host content, such as status updates and pictures, and communicate with other pods so that the content is available across the network. Users may either create a pod, join an associate's, or sign up in a pod open to the public. In any case, Diaspora prioritizes user privacy using a number of methods, which are described below [https://joindiaspora.com/].

Cha0s: /* References */

2011-03-01T14:17:27Z

References

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	==References==		==References==

	~~Give references in proper form (not just URLs if possible, give dates of access).~~

	[1] Jim Dwyer (May 11, 2010). ''Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook''. February 26, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html?_r=1		[1] Jim Dwyer (May 11, 2010). ''Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook''. February 26, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html?_r=1

Cha0s: /* References */

2011-03-01T14:17:11Z

References

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	[3] ''Aspect FAQ''. February 16, 2011, https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Aspects-FAQ		[3] ''Aspect FAQ''. February 16, 2011, https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Aspects-FAQ

	[4] ''Installing an Running Diaspora''. February 16, 2011,		[4] ''Installing an Running Diaspora''. February 16, 2011, https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Installing-and-Running-Diaspora
	https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Installing-and-Running-Diaspora

	[5] Randall Munroe. ''xkcd: Sandwich''. February 28, 2011, http://xkcd.com/149/		[5] Randall Munroe. ''xkcd: Sandwich''. February 28, 2011, http://xkcd.com/149/

Cha0s: /* Future Work */

2011-03-01T14:16:56Z

Future Work

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	===Future Work===		===Future Work===
	As far as future plans go, the wiki suggests that the main changes that are occurring at the moment involve securing messages sent between pods. Beyond that, launching Diaspora as a full-fledged social network competitor would be the ultimate goal.		As far as future plans go, the wiki suggests that the main changes that are occurring at the moment involve securing messages sent between pods [https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Security-Architecture-Proposal]. Beyond that, launching Diaspora as a full-fledged social network competitor would be the ultimate goal.

	==References==		==References==

Cha0s: /* References */

2011-03-01T14:16:50Z

References

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	[2] ''Diaspora Home Page''. January 31, 2011, https://joindiaspora.com/		[2] ''Diaspora Home Page''. January 31, 2011, https://joindiaspora.com/

	[3] ''Aspect FAQ''. February 16, 2011, [https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Aspects-FAQ]		[3] ''Aspect FAQ''. February 16, 2011, https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Aspects-FAQ

			[4] ''Installing an Running Diaspora''. February 16, 2011,
			https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Installing-and-Running-Diaspora

			[5] Randall Munroe. ''xkcd: Sandwich''. February 28, 2011, http://xkcd.com/149/

			[6] ''Installing on Ubuntu Apache''. February 22, 2011, https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Installing-on-Ubuntu-Apache

			[7] ''Diaspora: Poddery''. February 25, 2011, https://poddery.com/

			[8] ''Diaspora: Diasperse''. February 25, 2011, https://the.diasperse.com/

			[9] ''Diaspora Security Architecture Proposal''. February 28, 2011, https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Security-Architecture-Proposal

Cha0s: /* Stage Three: Communication Between Two Established Pods */

2011-03-01T14:15:09Z

Stage Three: Communication Between Two Established Pods

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	===Stage Three: Communication Between Two Established Pods===		===Stage Three: Communication Between Two Established Pods===
	To test how well pods are able to communicate with each other, I registered adm1n on a different pod: the.diasperse.com. By testing the communication between two established pods, I would be able to compare how well my pod is able to communicate in contrast. The sequence of events were as follows:		To test how well pods are able to communicate with each other, I registered adm1n on a different pod: Diasperse [https://the.diasperse.com]. By testing the communication between two established pods, I would be able to compare how well my pod is able to communicate in contrast. The sequence of events were as follows:
	#cha0s searches for "Aurora Rhys", but cannot find the one on diasperse.com		#cha0s searches for "Aurora Rhys", but cannot find the one on diasperse.com
	#adm1n logs out of diasperse.com, and logs back in.		#adm1n logs out of diasperse.com, and logs back in.

Cha0s: /* Stage One: Communication Within Established Pod */

2011-03-01T14:13:30Z

Stage One: Communication Within Established Pod

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	===Stage One: Communication Within Established Pod===		===Stage One: Communication Within Established Pod===
	As a sort of control test, I registered cha0s and adm1n as users on an already established server: ~~www.~~poddery.com. The purpose of this test was to observe the communication between two users within the same pod, which has a reputation for being reliable. The sequence of events were as follows:		As a sort of control test, I registered cha0s and adm1n as users on an already established server: Poddery [https://poddery.com]. The purpose of this test was to observe the communication between two users within the same pod, which has a reputation for being reliable. The sequence of events were as follows:
	#cha0s searches for "Aurora Rhys" and finds her profile page.		#cha0s searches for "Aurora Rhys" and finds her profile page.
	#cha0s adds Aurora to his "Work" aspect.		#cha0s adds Aurora to his "Work" aspect.

Cha0s: /* References */

2011-03-01T14:08:49Z

References

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	Give references in proper form (not just URLs if possible, give dates of access).		Give references in proper form (not just URLs if possible, give dates of access).

	Jim Dwyer (May 11, 2010). ''Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook''. February 26, 2011, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html?_r=1]		[1] Jim Dwyer (May 11, 2010). ''Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook''. February 26, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/nyregion/12about.html?_r=1

	''Diaspora Home Page''. January 31, 2011, [https://joindiaspora.com/]		[2] ''Diaspora Home Page''. January 31, 2011, https://joindiaspora.com/

	''Aspect FAQ''. February 16, 2011, [https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Aspects-FAQ]		[3] ''Aspect FAQ''. February 16, 2011, [https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Aspects-FAQ]