The Spring of '83 is not over

Glances around at people who probably don't want to hear about technology on a Sunday*

Boy am I bad at reading rooms.

Hey, have you seen this: https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/specifying-spring-83/ ? Anyone tried it yet?

tatterdemalion

I think it's a neat idea. I have not read the specification yet, only its description, but I get the feeling it is (like most things in 2022) more complex than it needs to be. It boils down to "show only the most recent post from each of my RSS feeds, in a Pinterest-style layout". Or if you don't prefer RSS, there's an IndieWeb way of doing the same thing. This spec adds in some arbitrary limitations (including the maximum number of people on the network!), and adds a gossip protocol and maybe some other things I'm missing. What I'm missing for sure, though, is why you need a spec for this...

tatterdemalion

Okay, I have, now, actually read the spec. There is a very narrow core of it that I actually quite like (keypair identities making authentication of posters and validation of posts trivial), and I like the general user experience goal... But there's a whole lot of other stuff I don't like. I do not like any "boil the oceans to prevent spam" mechanism, and this protocol has two (related ones) of them: the need for publishers to search the keyspace for keypairs that meet the protocol's requirements, and the "difficulty factor" that servers must apply before deciding to accept posts. I don't know *exactly* how much compute it would take to generate a key that is both compliant and high-difficulty, but I do know it provides bad incentives: rather than disincentivising spam (by making it expensive), it makes *only* profitable material postable by making the protocol pay-to-play once it's widely used.

I also don't particularly care for the 'realm' system. It makes sense, once you've accepted some of the other design goals (particularly "store the whole universe"). But there's not a huge benefit to accepting those goals to begin with.

littlejohn

Yeah, I'm similarly torn on the spam prevention mechanism, but realistically, I can't think of any relevant prior art to point at as proof that it either works or it doesn't, so having thought about it for all of five minutes, it's more likely that the author is right and it'll work than that I'm right and it won't.

tetris

Hah, I like to think that there are two types of digital nomads:

Those who create simple protocols to live simple modern lives (Distraction-free nomads)
Those who wish the internet did not develop further than YearXYZ (Amish nomads)

I think this protocol is a mix of both ;-)

Also, check out https://arngren.net/ for a similar kind of feeling

dakota

Wow, that site is fascinating. I love how they're selling bicycles, kids' toys, electric jetpacks, and nude art all on the same page lol

tetris

The Internet circa 1995: the crazy place for all your needs rolled into one!

littlejohn

Also, check out https://arngren.net/ for a similar kind of feeling

I have been hypnotised and decided I want one of these: https://www.arngren.net/oversetter.html .

tetris

I love how that's a transliteration of the german word Übersetzer