Hi John, There is an on-going work on projects.openmoko.org to provide similar service:
http://diversity.projects.openmoko.org/ The server is a jabber server. We use GEOLOC extension for location exchange. Locally, there is a daemon running. It works as a jabber client (and more). The UIs communicate with the daemon through dbus. On Sat, Apr 05, 2008 at 12:31:29PM +0100, john wrote: > Hi. I have been working on a D-Bus location-oriented service. I would > like to get some feedback to help direct the development and possibly > get some others involved. There are also some important non-technical > issues I would like to address. > > Firstly, the D-Bus service is a server type process to look-up the > distance of other users of the system. It has a simple interface which > has been designed to be self-clocking. What this means is you need to > "ping" in location to update your local database of distance > information. One of the ideas behind this was to encourage updates > rather than be dominated by look-ups. A key feature of updating the > database in this system is that transferring the data required is done > in a very efficient manor. It actually "bit packs" the data. This > makes no assumptions about the quality or cost of the underlying > network. > > So how would this be used? Well, I need some help with ideas and > clients. A simple use case would be to match users to your contacts > list and alert when they are within a certain distance. There are > other D-Bus location-oriented projects which could be integrated or > used in some way. > > Are there any students working on GSOC projects in this area? > > It is my intention to release all code including server. This brings > me to the non-technical issues. Although I don't have any problems > running server processes on my own hardware etc I think there are some > issues which need to be addressed. I understand the privacy concerns > of using these types of services and want to make this as open as > possible. Releasing the server code is fine but it does not actually > mean the "real" server is some other code doing something evil and > logging your data etc. This is where a trusted third party needs to be > involved. If these server processes were run from such a source it > would be a step in the right direction. How do others feel about this? > I know some people will never use these types of services full stop. > That is fine. I know others are interested in using them. I personally > am not interested in plotting on a map where I am. I don't mind > knowing that I am approximately close to something or someone and > vice-versa. > > Anyway, I think D-Bus provides us with a good opportunity to develop > some cool applications in this mobile space. Interested in your > thoughts? > > John (zedstar on IRC). > -- Regards, olv
