[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] networking questions & requests

[From: Matt Croydon]

Justin,

Excellent thoughts on using Zeroconf with the 770!  I just wanted to
add a quick +1 to the thought of adding Zeroconf to the platform if
possible.  At the same time if it's not possible, it shouldn't be hard
to package up mDNSResponder
(http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/mdnsresponder) and use that
to build your own apps and services.

Of course a nice integration of Zeroconf + D-BUS would be ideal.

--Matt

On 6/10/05, Justin Bradford <jabradford at gmail.com> wrote:
> First, I love the direction you taken so far with maemo and the 770. I
> have a ton of ideas for open source applications for this thing. And I
> know this is not the place to discuss such things, but the potential
> vertical market, proprietary software possibilities are astounding.
> 
> Second, I have some questions and suggestions for software
> implementation on the networking side, however. I believe I have read
> every bit of text at or linked from the maemo site, and I apologize if
> I missed something that has been covered.
> 
> 1. There are ssl libs on the dev platform, I assume that ssl will be
> available on the released platform (the 770). I just wanted to
> double-check, as that is a critical feature.
> 
> 2. The docs regarding the network connection are a tad unclear. With
> the prelink, I know some form of net connect wizard will appear for
> the user when the app opens a socket. My question is what exactly this
> wizard offers in the way of net connections. I assume it will offer a
> list of detected wifi networks. I also assume it will be capable of
> password authentication (if necessary) to those networks. However:
> will the net subsystem be capable of forming ad hoc networks --
> whether by wifi, bluetooth, or irda -- to  other "client" systems in
> range? For example, will two 770's be able to form an ad hoc net with
> each other in the absence of an AP? With some desktop or laptop with a
> wifi card?
> 
> 3. zeroconf (Rendezvous) support would be an amazing feature to have.
> It would easily quadruple the utility (as a network device) of the
> 770.
>     (a) from the simple utility perspective of ad hoc network formation.
>     (b) maemo apps could query and utilize generalized network
> resources, such as printing   (even if maemo does not ship with a
> print infrastructure, it would be trivial for printers/desktops to
> provide a generic "give me an rtf (or pdf or whatever) and I'll print
> it" resource), file shares, im, appliance controls (stereo & video
> [tivo, itunes, arq, slim, xamp, etc], home automation, etc), and so
> much more.
>     (c) applications could offer their own zerconf net services.
> obviously an im/chat client, when running, should advertise zeroconf
> service, so im/chat users on the local network could say hello.
>     (d) ideallly, another line in the DBUS/osso service description
> could describe the zerconf net service -- so a program would not even
> have to be running for its potential service to be advertised. if some
> remote app requested the service, it would start the program (which
> need not be a gui program -- could simply be something behind the
> scenes to the user).
> In the im/chat example, it could put an info message, saying "Joe is
> on this network, want to talk to him?" But really, the potential of
> this feature is with the ideas none of us have yet.
> 
> Anyway, if Nokia put in even basic zeroconf support, with mere
> detection/use of external resources, it would provide for amazing cool
> applications. Even better if maemo apps were capable of offering
> services (whether the relveant app was currently running or not). This
> would change the baseline expectation of it means to "just work".
> Really, zeroconf seems to be made for a device like this (something
> powerful and incredibly mobile).
> 
> Even my utterly non-geek, non-technical friends are interested in the
> 770. Once I tell them about the things I hope can be written for the
> platform: they start asking how to pre-order.
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-- 
...
Matt Croydon
mcroydon at gmail.com, matt at ooiio.com
http://postneo.com