Re: Looking for Feedback on the new API
Adam Rosien
Sorry I haven't posted our spec yet; I'll send it out today. I got
caught up in some release stuff for our main product. I've added you
to the mailing list.
One difference, it seems, is in our initial plans we want to hide as
much information as possible about the contents of a "drive" from the
client, rather than creating an API like WebDAV. Initially we want to
make the storage provider more of a black box to the client. We want
a client to have a "Open File" button and and a "Save As" button that
redirects the user to the storage provider, where they authorize the
client to perform those operations. We feel a lot of people don't
necessarily want to expose the entire contents of their "drive" to a
client; the client will only get a small amount of metadata needed to
read and write the authorized files.
If the client wants much more information about the "drive" then I
think WebDAV might be the most appropriate way to do it. WebDAV is a
rather large spec to code against :(
.. Adam
On Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 2:23 AM, Anton Bar <an...@g.ho.st> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Adam,
>
> Now I have some more time to elaborate on what we have accomplished in
> G.ho.st.
>
> Currentlty we have a working file system called Virtual File System (VFS).
> It is a standard abstract API and a set of specialized adapters that allow
> you mounting / using / unmounting web virtual drives such as Amazon or
> Google.
>
> You can see this in your G.ho.st account - click "GO" and choose "Web disk
> drives" (if you don't have an account you can register at http://g.ho.st,
> it's a comletely free service with 3GB for data and 3GB for emails). In
> order to mount a drive, you can add your login details in "GO / My Logins".
>
> We have 2-3 full time developers working on it, and we already have a bunch
> of code that we want to open. We planned and partly implemented a set of
> HTTP based APIs including WebDAV and REST. We also want to support OAuth.
>
> BTW, we've acquired a special domain for our Virtual Interoperability
> project. If you decide to join us, maybe we should use it for the OpenFile
> initiative too to make it more compelling. It should be up and running soon.
>
> So let me see your proposal first and check how far we are from each other
> :-)
>
> Regards
>
> Anton Bar
>
> Chief Gheek
> G.ho.st... No walls
> Skype: antonbar
> Office: +972-8-975-55-60 x3201
> Fax: +972-8-975-55-70
> Mobile: +972-54-620-24-40
> ____________________________________
> Sent from my free G.ho.st Virtual Computer
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Adam Rosien" <ad...@rosien.net>
> To: "Anton Bar" <an...@g.ho.st>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:46:24 PM (GMT+0200) Auto-Detected
> Subject: Re: Looking for Feedback on the new API
>
>
> We would definitely love to have as many people working together as
> possible. I'm slowly sending out our overview to a few mailing lists
> to avoid being annoying. So far you're the first responder. :)
>
> Can you tell me about your own file interoperability ideas? How well
> do they match up with our use cases? Have you written any kind of
> internal spec?
>
> I've written a first draft of a spec that is HTTP-based, uses OAuth
> for authorization, and defines standard data formats for a service
> document (so clients can easily know the service URLs) and authorized
> file lists (collections of URLs with permissions granted to a client).
> If you would be interested in reading it I can make it available.
> Hopefully it can be a starting point, but I don't want to force our
> particular view. But I hope that the general use of HTTP is something
> you want.
>
> I have created a mailing list at
> http://groups.google.com/group/openfile. If you think that's a good
> place to discuss our ideas, please join us. Otherwise email is fine
> for now. I'm also on GTalk as adam....@gmail.com.
>
> .. Adam
>
> On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 1:48 AM, Anton Bar <an...@g.ho.st> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hello Adam,
> >
> > Let me introduce myself. My name is Anton Bar and I work for
> http://G.ho.st.
> > G.ho.st is a popular web based virtual computer available for free for
> every
> > human being.
> >
> > For more info see http://g.ho.st/home, http://g.ho.st/buzz/awards.jsp, and
> > http://g.ho.st/home/UserTestimonials.jsp (note the Steve Ballmer's quote).
> >
> > We in G.ho.st are working on a new general open interoperability concept
> > called GOSPL. One of the parts of GOSPL is file interoperability, which is
> > very similar to your proposal of OpenFile. We also consider supporting
> > OAuth. We plan other interoperability concepts including identity, user
> > preferences, and data.
> >
> > Any interest in joining the forces intead of developing two independent
> > concepts and standards. I believe that together we can develop a better
> and
> > more compelling offering.
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Anton Bar
> >
> > Chief Gheek
> > G.ho.st... No walls
> > Skype: antonbar
> > Office: +972-8-975-55-60 x3201
> > Fax: +972-8-975-55-70
> > Mobile: +972-54-620-24-40
> > ____________________________________
> > Sent from my free G.ho.st Virtual Computer
> >
>
Adam Rosien
>
>
> If I correctly understood your question, then of course I agree. Only user
> should decide how and under what conditions she/he allowes to access her/his
> data, and service provider should obey this decision.
Excellent.
> I'll wait now till I get your proposal :-)
It's uploaded it to the group page at
http://groups.google.com/group/openfile/files.
.. Adam