Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

MWD
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Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by MWD »

http://meowbit.com

Works on entire Windows system. ALL browsers, e-mail, FTP, I.M. etc.

So far works well on Windows 7 and 8. We should have it for XP within a week or two. That will give us 75%+ coverage of all computer users. Much higher than Firefox-only for Windows and GNU/Linux.

It is written in Python, contains none of the FreeSpeechMe code.

MeowBit is Free Software / Open Source, GNU-licensed. Feel free to look it through and/or play with it.

My friend Derrick Slopey whipped this up in a week. I worked with him on it. He tried to post on here to get feedback before doing it, couldn't log in. Never got the confirm e-mail. But he and I are the type to "just do it" rather than wait around for stuff like that.

I'm still recommending people go to FreeSpeechMe if they're on Linux.

I'm recommending that if MeowBit becomes the de-facto Windows thing, that the money I raised for bounties on FreeSpeechMe go into re-basing the Namecoin wallet and other Namecoin improvements that Jeremy mentioned on the FreeSpeechMe site and Indiegogo campaign site instead of into FreeSpeechMe. (That would be ethically fine, improvements in Namecoin not specific to FreeSpeechMe are mentioned in the list of goals on the FreeSpeechMe site and Indiegogo campaign. And the Wallet rebase is specifically mentioned. From my fairly non-tech view, the wallet re-basing is probably the greatest thing that could improve usability of Dot-Bit, now that MeowBit is here.)

Jeremy did it first, I will always credit him for that. But I think system-wide is a better direction to go for wide adoption, rather than single-browser plugins. 90% of the hundreds of comments and e-mails I got on FreeSpeechMe said "MAKE IT FOR CHROME!"

With MeowBit, Dot-Bit now works easily on Chrome. And I.E. And Firefox. And Opera. Would even work on Netscape.

-Michael W. Dean
Namecoin, Dot-Bit and MeowBit are a complete new Internet ecosystem, building the roads to Web 4.0. http://www.meowbit.com
Dot-Bit Kitty Pix! The ONLY .bit-only kitty cat website in the world! http://dotbitkittypix.bit

domob
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by domob »

Does this also support Namecoin-based TLS verification and resolving through non-IP methods (like Tor), as FreeSpeechMe does? I think these are crucial points that set .bit apart from the existing DNS infrastructure. (In addition to seizure-resistence of .bit domains.)

Also, doesn't nmcontrol also support running as local DNS server which can be used by the system? (I've never tried this, though.) Would be interesting to know how MeowBit is different here and what the advantages are, even though it is sadly only usable for people running non-free software (Windows).
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kurt
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by kurt »

Great work MWD ! you rock
what an asset to namecoin !

MWD
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by MWD »

kurt wrote:Great work MWD ! you rock
what an asset to namecoin !
Thank you so much, Kurt~!

We're digging your art and your contributions. Using the art on the new website too.


MWD
Namecoin, Dot-Bit and MeowBit are a complete new Internet ecosystem, building the roads to Web 4.0. http://www.meowbit.com
Dot-Bit Kitty Pix! The ONLY .bit-only kitty cat website in the world! http://dotbitkittypix.bit

MWD
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by MWD »

domob wrote:Does this also support Namecoin-based TLS verification and resolving through non-IP methods (like Tor), as FreeSpeechMe does? I think these are crucial points that set .bit apart from the existing DNS infrastructure. (In addition to seizure-resistence of .bit domains.)
Well, my programmer Derrick Slopey tried to answer here, but he STILL can't get on this forum. So here's his answer:

The feature support is very limited at this time, and it does not yet support TLS, i2p, import, or onion.
It's very much a beta, and targeted at ease of use.

A stable release will provide full dot-bit specification support.

Are there not already great solutions for Linux users such as nmcToBind?


And my answer is "FreeSpeechMe supports it, but can anyone yet really use it yet?"

Here's a two-page thread
http://forum.namecoin.info/viewtopic.ph ... listpapers

of three incredibly smart power-user computer guys trying to have an incredibly smart programmer, the program's creator, walk them through it. I think one of them FINALLY gets on federalistpapers.bit, after WAY more work than it would be to just type in the onion address for that.

If these three cats couldn't do it easily, the average user, even a GNU/Linux average user, isn't going to bother.

FreeSpeechMe and MeowBit are both in Beta.
domob wrote: Also, doesn't nmcontrol also support running as local DNS server which can be used by the system? (I've never tried this, though.) Would be interesting to know how MeowBit is different here and what the advantages are, even though it is sadly only usable for people running non-free software (Windows).
I use Windows AND GNU/Linux. Most people don't. Most people use one or the other.

An attitude of "....even though it is sadly only usable for people running non-free software" sounds like part of the common GNU/Linux attitude that keeps great programs and protocols from mass adoption.

If you feel sorry for lowly Windows users, you're never going to make any technology that leaves your bedroom, no matter how good it us. Unless you're Richard Stallman, and I have spent over 100 e-mails arguing back and forth with him on things like this. Ughhhh.......

And GNU/Linux succeeded basically DESPITE Stallman.

GNU/Linux succeeded because it had a guy who loved the camera and the microphone (Linus) and a guy with an anarchist/libertarian outlook who basically created the software concept of "release early, release often" (Eric S. Raymond.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_ea ... ease_often

Eric S. Raymond is my hero. He is the embodiment of "Don't wait for permission, just DO IT."

The average computer user, i.e. the majority of computer users, couldn't use nmcontrol support running as local DNS server if you held a gun to their head. Namecoin needed Jeremy to make to make nmcontrol usable for Windows. And nmcontrol needed Derrick and I to improve its use on Windows and make it really easy. And we're working daily on making it very very very easy.

I'm looking for MASS adoption here, and everyone involved in Namecoin should also be looking for mass adoption by this point.

The average computer user uses GNU/Linux every time they surf the web, they just don't know it. Most web servers run on GNU/Linux. I see FreeSpeechMe and MeowBit as stepping stones to where dot-bit is included underneath in everything. I'm looking for a day when no one has HEARD of FreeSpeechMe and MeowBit, but every browser just automatically browses Dot-Bit by default, and everyone uses Dot-Bit all the time because they just know it's better.

MeowBit has less user issues than FreeSpeechMe. FreeSpeechMe froze things for many users (including me). Some really smart people could NOT install it, even with help. MeowBit just works. Seamlessly and with no major issues.

MeowBit is aimed at mass adoption. Mass adoption is REQUIRED to make Dot-Bit work, and the Namecoin technological ecosystem is at a point where it's ready for that. And if I'm missing something and it's not ready, the programmers on here should get it ready damn fast. I've thrown the kid in the pool, let's hope he can swim. And if he can't swim, y'all should build him a life preserver damn quick.

You want to know the main thing MeowBit has? Me. I'm a 50-year old punk rocker with the energy of a 20 year old. I'm a guy who has been doing "do it yourself" projects worldwide since before the Internet and since before there was a phrase "DIY." I'm a guy who never took "you can't do that" as an answer and I promote things 24/7 when I get behind them.
http://www.oreilly.com/pub/au/3220

I've gotten more adoption and press
http://meowbit.com/press/

for Dot-Bit in five weeks than has previously happened in three years. And that was despite me dealing with website outages on Jeremy's server, no forum that users could easily get to, not being allowed to set up a forum, a programmer who had almost zero time for me, never said "thank you", and vetoed some of my best ideas.....and a number of other issues that do not exist for MeowBit.

And I'm just getting started with MeowBit.

Seriously man, Namecoin is amazing, but it's time to take the new flying car out of the basement lab for a drive around the block and let the folks from the neighborhood take a ride in it.

MWD

p.s. I am NOT going to have time to write long concise answers to every "YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!" post. I'll still probably hang out on here, I dig a bunch of the folks here. But since Jeremy locked me out of the FreeSpeechMe site that I created (I was still going to update new press for FreeSpeechMe, I told him that), maybe consider this post my Ninety-Five Theses nailed to the church door.
Last edited by MWD on Thu Mar 06, 2014 8:33 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Namecoin, Dot-Bit and MeowBit are a complete new Internet ecosystem, building the roads to Web 4.0. http://www.meowbit.com
Dot-Bit Kitty Pix! The ONLY .bit-only kitty cat website in the world! http://dotbitkittypix.bit

domob
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by domob »

MWD-FreeSpeechMe wrote:An attitude of "....even though it is sadly only usable for people running non-free software" sounds like part of the common GNU/Linux attitude that keeps great programs and protocols from mass adoption.

If you feel sorry for lowly Windows users, you're never going to make any technology that leaves your bedroom, no matter how good it us. Unless you're Richard Stallman, and I have spent over 100 e-mails arguing back and forth with him on things like this. Ughhhh.......
You got this wrong, what I meant was that I would be interested in trying it out and using it in case it should work well in the future with full features, but that "sadly" for me it is not possible because I don't run Windows. From my point of view, everyone can use whatever software they like, I don't have to feel sorry for them.
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MWD
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by MWD »

domob wrote:
MWD-FreeSpeechMe wrote:An attitude of "....even though it is sadly only usable for people running non-free software" sounds like part of the common GNU/Linux attitude that keeps great programs and protocols from mass adoption.

If you feel sorry for lowly Windows users, you're never going to make any technology that leaves your bedroom, no matter how good it us. Unless you're Richard Stallman, and I have spent over 100 e-mails arguing back and forth with him on things like this. Ughhhh.......
You got this wrong, what I meant was that I would be interested in trying it out and using it in case it should work well in the future with full features, but that "sadly" for me it is not possible because I don't run Windows. From my point of view, everyone can use whatever software they like, I don't have to feel sorry for them.
That was ABSOLUTELY not clear the way you wrote it. Especially qualifying with "non-free software." Totally sounds like "those poor slaves don't even know they're slaves."

And I stand by addressing it anyway, because it's come up before, and will come up again. Please don't take anything in that e-mail personally. It's an open letter to the world, you just inspired me to write it.

So anyway, MeowBit is GNU-licensed Free Software. If you'd like to make it for GNU/Linux, please have at it. We're concentrating on Windows for mass adoption, and because FreeSpeechMe already works on GNU/Linux.

And instead of being sad that you can't try a Windows-only program, spend 30 bucks on eBay for an old Windows machine. That's what I did, in reverse. My main computers are all Windows. The machine I have running Ubuntu is an old eBay Windows box I wiped and put Linux on. I was tired of not being able to use things only made for Linux, so I did something about it.

MWD
Namecoin, Dot-Bit and MeowBit are a complete new Internet ecosystem, building the roads to Web 4.0. http://www.meowbit.com
Dot-Bit Kitty Pix! The ONLY .bit-only kitty cat website in the world! http://dotbitkittypix.bit

ozmds
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by ozmds »

+1 for mass adoption, least effort installation.

MWD
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by MWD »

ozmds wrote:+1 for mass adoption, least effort installation.
thanks man. You've got MeowBit working, I take it?

We've had 910 downloads, and zero posts on our very functional help forum. I take that as a good sign.

MWD
Namecoin, Dot-Bit and MeowBit are a complete new Internet ecosystem, building the roads to Web 4.0. http://www.meowbit.com
Dot-Bit Kitty Pix! The ONLY .bit-only kitty cat website in the world! http://dotbitkittypix.bit

ozmds
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Re: Dot-Bit on ANY Browser: MeowBit for Windows

Post by ozmds »

MWD-FreeSpeechMe wrote:
ozmds wrote:+1 for mass adoption, least effort installation.
thanks man. You've got MeowBit working, I take it?
Just heard about it from this thread. I'll definitely take a look at it.

Mostly punch-drunk from finally being able to log into this forum! ;)

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