On Tuesday 30 March 2010 19:35:28 Kyle Messner wrote: > No need to apologize, thanks for the feedback!
Evan is essentially right - while it would be possible to run Freenet as a browser plugin, it would be a very heavyweight plugin, it would still need Java, and if it only ran when the browser was running it would have very low uptime, which would make life rather difficult for the network. I comment on other things below... > I took a look at the idea > list, and I'm very interested in implementing at least one (if not several, > time permitting) of the client improvement ideas. My top priority would be > improving the web interface generally and helping to improve the content > filters. You are allowed to make multiple applications to the same project (Freenet) for different tasks (web interface cleanup, content filters, etc). There is plenty of work to do in both areas! > That is, I'd make improving the web interface my main goal, and if > I have time I'd like to help contribute to at least one or two content > filters. I feel that a clean, streamlined, bug-free interface is one of the > most important things to have when trying to get users interested in a piece > of software and keep them interested. It's also something that I believe > would be well within my ability to help implement while still presenting a > challenge and helping to further my programming abilities. I also feel like > it would be a great way to get my feet wet in the Freenet project, and > perhaps after GSoC it would allow me to move on try to contribute to other > various parts of the Freenet code. I suggest you install Freenet to get an idea of the current web interface. You might like to try out the major themes (clean-dropdown, minimalist, etc, on the web interface config). There is a great deal of work to be done on the user interface, it has been discussed extensively on the list, including the mockups evan mentioned, and there are lots of ideas on the bug tracker. However, you do need to be aware of the web-pushing branch, which was implemented for last year's Summer of Code and will soon be merged (but disabled by default as it is still buggy). This uses AJAX and various forms of push technologies to: 1) Live-update various pages - statistics, friends, alerts, etc. 2) Live-update progress graphics on pages with many inline images. It is implemented with Google Web Toolkit, but using it at a very low level i.e. essentially as a Java to JavaScript compiler, we are not using any of GWT's layout/widgets/etc features. > > My first question is what kind of languages and APIs I would need to work > with to improve the web interface. Java on the backend. Java compiled to JavaScript on the frontend, probably; native Javascript is a possibility, but Java is probably easier to maintain, and certainly portability issues suggest GWT is a good idea. The web interface must be usable with pure HTML, but it should be substantially improved with Javascript turned on. > Also, I noticed a link to a wiki article > on an "fproxy" mockup. Is this actually finished and implemented? If so, I > assume most of my work would be in improving this interface? If not, should > one of my goals be implementing this interface? No. Most of it is not implemented. The stuff on the wiki page is just one mockup, there was another one recently and hopefully pupok will do more (one question is how to organise status messages / create some sort of user friendly status dashboard, hopefully her next mockup will address this). > > On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 8:07 PM, <devl-request at freenetproject.org> wrote: > > > Currently, freenet runs as a background service, with a local web interface > > to > > be accessed through your browser - if I understood you right, you want to > > move > > the service into a browser plugin? Sorry, but this is definitely not > > feasible - > > there is far too much to implement. Even if it was, I'm not sure if it's > > such a > > good idea - firefox isn't exactly the lightest of browsers, freenet isn't > > light > > either; a plugin would slow the performance of both considerably. > > > > That said, you seem to be very enthusiastic about the project and its > > ideals - > > maybe you'd be interested in a different proposal idea? We do have an ideas > > page; feel free to just lift stuff straight off it: > > > > http://new-wiki.freenetproject.org/Google_Summer_of_Code/2010 > > > > Again, sorry if this email seems abrupt, I definitely don't intend for you > > to > > feel discouraged - there is plenty of stuff for you to pick and do - I just > > thought I'd give a quick reply so that you don't waste your time chasing > > the > > path you suggested. > > > > X > > > > > So there it is, there's my idea. I'd like to implement as much of the > > > freenet features as possible as a browser plug-in to firefox. The most > > > important features I'd like to implement are viewing freenet sites, using > > > the email client, and using the message service, although I'd like to get > > to > > > as many as I can. I'd like to know what Freenet thinks of this idea, and > > if > > > they think it would be a feasible GSoC project to propose. > > > > > > A little more about me. I'm currently finishing up my sophomore year in > > > pursuit of a bachelor's degree in Computer Science (hopefully move on to > > my > > > master's after). I'm very passionate about software design, especially in > > > the world of open-source (although I believe proprietary software has its > > > place, too). I have some experience with C++ and JavaScript, most of my > > > experience lies with Java, Visual C#, and Visual Basic (I also had 5 > > > semesters of Pascal in high school which helped teach me many fundamental > > > concepts about programming). I'm a quick learner, and self-teacher. > > > Developing software for an open-source project sounds like an ideal > > summer > > > job to me :) > > > > > > Look forward to hearing back, > > > Kyle > > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 197 bytes Desc: This is a digitally signed message part. URL: <https://emu.freenetproject.org/pipermail/devl/attachments/20100401/c25531de/attachment.pgp>
