The messaging system in namecoin

[khal]

I've written a patch to send messages to owners of namecoin addresses.

Here is how to send a message :

Code: Select all

./namecoind message_send "Hi, this is my reply." N9RYgAfTy1LeeR1NS5AhD1EHktHJveaFJm
99307fc0839466e015f14ff96392a3715791fb15fbe70ec794b77d2dcbf4aa06

Here is how to show my messages :

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./namecoind message_list
[
    {
        "account" : "",
        "address" : "message: Hi, this is a message_send from one wallet to another wallet",
        "category" : "send",
        "amount" : -0.00050000,
        "fee" : -0.00050000,
        "confirmations" : 65,
        "txid" : "2a680b56d7846cb95547d5092cfb7e03afdb1ecc5c405cff81edf78775c7cce7",
        "time" : 1320065250
    },
    {
        "account" : "",
        "address" : "message: Hi, this is my reply.",
        "category" : "receive",
        "amount" : 0.00050000,
        "confirmations" : 3,
        "txid" : "99307fc0839466e015f14ff96392a3715791fb15fbe70ec794b77d2dcbf4aa06",
        "time" : 1320094978
    }
]

Here is what it looks like in the block explorer :
http://explorer.dot-bit.org/tx/84557
http://explorer.dot-bit.org/tx/84568
http://explorer.dot-bit.org/tx/84739

The advantages are (compared to the first draft proposed by zamgo) :
- no link with the name registration system
- instant transfer, no need to register and wait for 12 blocks each time you want to send a message
- cost is not tied to name registration system : 0.0005NC is sent to the receiving address + standard miner fees
- transactions are already accepted by the network (hum, i would have preferred this wouldn't be the case... Everybody can really send custom transactions ?)
- limited to 1023 bytes

Future evolves :
- allow to send messages to namecoin names :
* ./namecoind message_send "blabla" "d/dot-bit" would be converted to the last namecoin address of "d/dot-bit" (current is NAjG9pX9TFBaHXsUhYrr2J7tgbaEAYdnoj)
* ./namecoind message_send "blabla" "p/khal"

Source code :
https://github.com/khalahan/namecoin/tree/message_send

ps : make a backup of your wallet before using this patch. Even if i have tested it a bit, it may still contain bugs.

[khal]

Due to a bug in the patch, new blocks are refused, so use it to test only for now :p (update the blockchain with standard client and then launch the patched version to use the new commands)

[khal]

Bug fixed in last commit :
https://github.com/khalahan/namecoin/co ... ssage_send

[khal]

Support of namecoin names has been added.
You can now send messages to domain owners ! (and any reserved name)

Examples :

Code: Select all

./namecoind message_send "test message" p/khal

Message will be sent to N4zsBvJqfUBA9Hqq9aoNfuc3XjxMANXGm7 (current owner of p/khal)

Code: Select all

./namecoind message_send "test message" d/dot-bit

Message will be sent to NAjG9pX9TFBaHXsUhYrr2J7tgbaEAYdnoj (current owner of d/dot-bit)

[phelix]

is this part of the main tree?

very interesting to contact domain owners

[khal]

is this part of the main tree?

No, only in my tree, in a separate branch. And vinced said me the coins used by the message tx may be spent by anybody. So, deeper checks are needed before really using this.

very interesting to contact domain owners

I think we can extend this features to work with this namespace :
https://dot-bit.org/Namespace:Aliases
Edit: If a domain owner is a registrar, the real owner may not have a namecoin address, so using this with the Alias Namespace may not be useful inside namecoin (but this shouldn't refrain you from working on the Alias Namespace draft if you want :p). Using it outside, to send mail to a domain owner is another problem, that the Alias Namespace could resolve.

ps : i added the bbcodes [ s ] and [ /b ] :p

[lehmansister]

I've written a patch to send messages to owners of namecoin addresses.

Here is how to send a message :

This is a great idea. I know there will be a lot of kinks to work out, if it's all done in-chain...

What could be 'really awesome' however, once the 'anyone can spend' patch appears, is that it can be used to begin an out of band conversation (senders first message is: {'you can respond to me these ways'}). Example, let's say I was a 'huge fan' of d/khal.... But you receive hundreds of messages every day, most of them garbage. This would allow you to begin a 'cash up front' to chat policy. If you were to decline the request, you could return it; or take it as tributary for thinking about it. I kinda like the idea... And will keep the block-chain from turning into a very large transaction set of noise.

Could the 'communication fee' also be placed in a fund to boost renewal time for the domain in the hands of the current "a/" or "p/"? I'm wary of linking the NMC content segment to the accounting, but that might prove somewhat useful in a lot of projects.

[phelix]

hmmm.... I see spam free communication on the horizon.

[phelix]

The messages could be encrypted using the same keys as the address. In python it would be easy to do:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=145098

[moa]

This comes up looking real nice and easy to use in the namecoin-qt GUI .... the default address is one of khal's it looks like .. maybe he likes getting test messages .