Google Summer of Code

phelix
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by phelix »

* id/ support into Electrum (like Bitmessage; should be relatively easy to do)
* nmcontrol Web Gui & browser
* id browser that displays Namecoin days destroyed that are sitting on an id
* Web of Trust & browser (see Nanotube's paper)

Browser should be able to follow "import" or a new "link" keyword or wot links.
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indolering
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by indolering »

I would love a proposal for a DHT/distributed routing, but I'm not qualified to mentor the coding aspect of it :/
DNS is much more than a key->value datastore.

biolizard89
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by biolizard89 »

phelix wrote:* id/ support into Electrum (like Bitmessage; should be relatively easy to do)
* nmcontrol Web Gui & browser
* id browser that displays Namecoin days destroyed that are sitting on an id
* Web of Trust & browser (see Nanotube's paper)

Browser should be able to follow "import" or a new "link" keyword or wot links.
id/ support in Electrum sounds too small for GSoC to me. The nmcontrol web GUI/browser would be very nice.
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domob
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by domob »

biolizard89 wrote:
domob wrote:Actually, there's a pretty extensive list of requirements on their FAQ page: https://www.google-melange.com/document ... ganization

I would like to emphasise two points which seemed most important from the list:
  • As I already suggested above from my student's point of view, the idea list is very, very important and we should put a lot of thoughts and effort into it if we want to apply successfully.
  • Since we are a new organisation, it would be best if some "Googler or other organisation" could vouch for us. Do you think that there is someone interested enough in Namecoin to do that? biolizard89 (?) mentioned that Google themselves were interested in fast offline DNS resolution; they also seemed to be opposed to the NSA spying on their data links, so maybe like the general ideas behind Namecoin. What does Mike Hearn (well, red lists, I know) think about Namecoin? The Bitcoin Foundation? Some other "big names" in the crypto community?
I don't have the names of the specific Googlers whom I talked to at the poster session, but I can e-mail the two Googlers who coordinated the student event which led to me being there... maybe they could check on which Googlers were at the poster session (and maybe I could ask them to vouch for me themselves). Would this be a good idea? I'm inclined to wait for us to have a somewhat more presentable website prior to contacting Google, seeing as they might look us up. Thoughts?
Yes, I agree. If this is on your short to mid-term horizon (which it seems to be), then it would be very good to have the updated webpage already.
biolizard89 wrote:Here are some random things in my wishlist... not sure if they're usable as GSoC projects:
  • Add Namecoin support to Armory. First step would be getting currency transactions working (both online and offline); next step would be name operations; next step after that would be queueing renew operations that are signed offline (so generate and sign 10 years of renews offline using LOCKTIME, then store them on the online client and broadcast them when the LOCKTIME block is reached). (We would have to coordinate with etotheipi.)
  • Implement libzerocoin into Namecoin (or more accurately, into libcoin and get Namecoin to use that feature). This would be dependent on the new Zerocoin release being out by then, also dependent on the libcoin rebase, and also dependent on the new Zerocoin release actually working as advertised. So maybe save this one for the following year unless there's progress on this front in the next month or so?
I like the Armory idea plus generating name updates offline. However, in order to generate updates for 10+ years, it would be necessary that the protocol does not change in that time (revised fee structure), I guess. So not sure how practical the idea is, but it is nice in theory at least. Zerocoin would also be great, although as I understand it, this would require us to change the protocol, right? In contrast to CoinJoin, Zerocoin can't just be added "on top" of Namecoin and work out-of-the-box. I'm honestly not sure whether this would be a good thing to do.

One could probably build a "semi-decentralised" mixer that holds Namecoins in a shared wallet with multi-signature keys distributed among a lot of nodes, and that uses Zerocoin to authorise payouts from this wallet to individuals. But this is just a quick idea, and I don't know whether it is possible or practical to do.
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phelix
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by phelix »

Instead of armory I would prefer something based on https://github.com/vbuterin/pybitcointools

(Modifying pbt for Namecoin is a piece of cake.)
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biolizard89
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by biolizard89 »

phelix wrote:Instead of armory I would prefer something based on https://github.com/vbuterin/pybitcointools

(Modifying pbt for Namecoin is a piece of cake.)
That's the thing, though -- GSoC is intended for projects that aren't a piece of cake, i.e. projects that would take someone working full-time for 2-3 months to accomplish. Also, pybitcointools doesn't look like a substitute for Armory, in terms of security, ease of use, or functionality.
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DyName: Dynamic DNS update client for .bit domains.

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phelix
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by phelix »

biolizard89 wrote:
phelix wrote:Instead of armory I would prefer something based on https://github.com/vbuterin/pybitcointools

(Modifying pbt for Namecoin is a piece of cake.)
That's the thing, though -- GSoC is intended for projects that aren't a piece of cake, i.e. projects that would take someone working full-time for 2-3 months to accomplish. Also, pybitcointools doesn't look like a substitute for Armory, in terms of security, ease of use, or functionality.
That's where the work would start. Simple yet secure and lightweight offline wallet. OK, probably it would make more sense to create that for Bitcoin and then assimilate it into Namecoin.

What about the other ideas...?
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indolering
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by indolering »

The deadline on this is in a month, where are we on this?
DNS is much more than a key->value datastore.

domob
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by domob »

indolering wrote:The deadline on this is in a month, where are we on this?
Good point, I've been thinking to renew the discussion myself. I'm still willing to be the administrator facing Google and applying, but we really need a good ideas list worked out and probably also a somewhat good web presence ready when they review the application. My list of suggested ideas from above still stands.
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Ben
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Re: Google Summer of Code

Post by Ben »

I would love to participate in GSoC as a student, working for Namecoin in it is a very exciting prospect!
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