I'm a Gnome heretic so I'm not subscribed. CC me if you want me in the discussion. :)
I didn't see it anywhere on the Wiki or in the list archives although it was a pretty quick spin past so I thought I'd better share my idea so no one missed it! Warning: Ideas get more radical and crazy as you progress. :-) Files stored on removable media or on network servers should be automatically synchronized with all available copies when connected. This should probably be included as a standard part of the Infinite-Undo file formats. That way, it might be possible to merge changes made to files at different locations, although user confirmation of the end result would still be a good idea. With this, users could edit a file on their work PC and the local copy syncs to the file server. When they get home and boot their home PC, the VPN comes up and syncs a copy from work to home. Later, they edit the copy on their palmtop or cell phone. When they get back home or to work, Bluetooth pops up and synchronizes it. Then they put in a USB key, wait for sync to complete and take it to a friend's house. I'm thinking files would have a storage category. It could be specific by each device, and by device groups such as All, Personal, Portable, Backup, Network. To make device management easy, the first time a Bluetooth phone or a USB key or a palmtop connects, ask the user about it and get the information about what files to keep on it and what category the device goes into. Guess and provide defaults. Files could be specified individually or by type with extra information about how to prioritize if everything doesn't fit. When a LAN device appears, interrogate it and discover if any of the user's credentials work on any of its services. Hopefully Zone Alarm and similar won't scream too loudly. :) Offer choices to the user about the new LAN device. Devices on the Internet or at work through a VPN probably need to be added explicitly by the user unless some vendor or volunteer wants to get into offering a online service like .Mac that carries user device data.... Hey another idea! Store user device info and network reachability and VPN definitions (minus keys) on portable devices. When it synchronizes at work or at home, if it doesn't recognize the device, see if it can figure out how to reach from there to another known point or ask the user. And another idea! Use a BitTorrent style file sharing protocol. If the user just has private files, it shares between home and work just like FTP but with added hash integrity checks. If the user marks files for public sharing, suddenly work AND home can get into the data pushing business, and each downloader as well, without having to think about explicitly using a P2P download program. If the user has a friend who gives him an account, his USB key files can sync there and the friend's computer becomes part of the file swarm automatically. Plus, files that weren't on the USB key could start to sync into his new account over his friend's network. Create a PHP/CGI script to implement this protocol on web hosts, and the user can get a cheap 20 GB web host account and upload the script. Now he has an easy to use data backup / network storage / public filesharing system that automatically synchronizes his documents between any/all devices when they're edited. If the protocol is done right and groups of Infinite-Undo change-sets are grouped in individual BitTorrent'ish hash blocks, the file swarm never needs to go back to re-download the first parts of the files, only the new blocks. Once the change-sets get too large, a new "keyframe" complete file image could be added, but the old change-sets are never forced out, they just get dropped from file stores over time. Holders of the existing change-sets would not need to download the new keyframe, but just build it from change-sets and compare integrity codes. Just think about bringing a new computer home. You load up the OS, set up your account, and Pow! Every other computer in the house including your cell phone and PDA begin to upload to it. Oh yeah, don't forget bandwidth limits in the network device options when configuring devices. You don't want to piss off your friends and bosses or rack up gigantic bandwidth charges on your web host. -- Zan Lynx <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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