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diff --git a/memos/WM-042.txt b/memos/WM-042.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0d1cc5 --- /dev/null +++ b/memos/WM-042.txt @@ -0,0 +1,206 @@ + + + + + + + +Document: WM-042 P. Webb +Category: Operating Systems 2019.12.02 + + A personal API + +Abstract + + You are the operating system + +Body + + 1. Inspiration + + Shortly after revisiting[1] my thoughts about the future of + operating systems I was pestered with a recurring thought; what if + one had a personal API sitting on a $5/month VPS (virtual private + server) and interfaced with it for nearly everything they do + online? It wasn't far-fetched for me to then imagine this personal + API becoming more of a personal OS in a way (or maybe stylized, + personalOS). With that in mind I realized that when thinking about + updating my personal web page[2] I didn't want to update the + content manually. Rather, I'd want to update an API and have my + site(s) automatically update. *Oh yeah*, why NOT have multiple + sites update? + + A personal API would make it easy for people to decentralize parts + of their digital lives. There are companies built upon the concept + of decentralization and that's promising. A rising tide raises all + ships, as they say, and I can see a day where non-technical people + are spinning up servers as much as they're migrating data to a new + smartphone (well, if they did all this via a nice UI). + + 2. Use Cases + + Here's a use case: I'm signed up to several social networks, + forums, and I have a couple websites. I'm a digital tastemaker and + pride myself on being current and relevant. However, updating my + account bio across these platforms is a 20-minute task that I + dread doing. Never fear for my API has a biography module! + Realistically, all the platforms I frequent won't have an API I + can connect my own to, but a handful will. My personal API sends + out update requests to the platforms it is connected to and + updates my bio section when I publish the relevant changes to + my API. + + That example may be a little contrived so let's try another one: + I'm a developer who prefers to self-host things whenever possible. + I am also quite lazy and live by DRY (don't repeat yourself) and + KISS (keep it simple, silly) principles to the extent I can + without much difficulty. I'm also fatigued and distrustful of the + capability of online services in general to keep my data safe. If + I trust nothing else I at least trust myself and a code base I + can peruse. + + 3. Version Alpha + + *Please keep in mind that this is still a super early idea and the + purpose of this post is to get the particulars fleshed out.* + + What follows is my proposed folder structure of the personal API. + Modules come in two types: purpose and utility. Utility modules + allow the purpose modules to do their thing, like + retrieving/modifying/storing data (on DigitalOcean's Spaces, + Amazon's S3, or your own storage location). Ideally you should + never have to touch those modules unless you wanted to improve + upon it or fork your own version. Purpose modules can be anything + you think of and the examples I listed could be your personal + Medium, Pinboard/Pinterest, Things, Spotify, Flickr/Instagram, + Last.fm, and so on. + + ```text + api + ├─ … + ├─ modules + │ ├─ purpose + │ │ ├─ blog + │ │ ├─ bookmarks + │ │ ├─ music + │ │ ├─ photos + │ │ ├─ portfolio + │ │ ├─ reminders + │ │ ├─ scrobbler + │ │ └─ status + │ └─ utility + │ ├─ database + │ └─ storage + └─ … + ``` + + The purpose functions would be able to call the utility functions + to, well, function. `webb.page` will be the guinea pig for the + initial release of personalOS. Once it works there I will update + parts of `inc.sh` and `dsgn.agency` to take advantage of it + as well. + + 4. Why Bother? + + You, dear reader, are probably not terribly interested in + self-hosting and dev ops. Even developers/engineers who know HOW + to do it aren't interested. Some of the common reasons against + self-hosting are fear (of the work involved), apathy ("my data + isn't super important anyway"), time (the only valid reason IMHO), + or a combination of the three. While I understand I also think *it + is incredibly important to claim your space on the Internet*. + We're all digital sharecroppers[3] so why not tend to our own + space on the 'Net? + + It's a helluva lot easier to monetize your content when it lives + on your platform, or personalOS in this case. Monetization doesn't + have to be your focus though. How about this: something that + irritates me about Apple's Music app and iOS 13 is that I have no + idea how to get my music that used to live in iTunes, onto my + phone anymore. Once I build a music module for personalOS I can + upload my music library to my own server and stream it on the go. + The major streaming services are great and all but my music + collection has rips from video game soundtracks, anime, and + otherwise defunct groups with no content on these streaming + services. Why would I give that up? Why *should* I?! + + 5. Business Opportunity? + + Y'know what would be nice? Having an easy way to share any files + that you're hosting. Although, you may not want to expose your + personal API server to the public. For this purpose, you could use + a third-party site like `personal.sh` to generate shareable links + (probably via `personal.sh/are`, I'm a fan of domain hacking[4]). + + Because the Internet is open to all, there will inevitably be + disturbing/disgusting/morally-bankrupt content shared through + `personal.sh`. If/when that happens, the offending user will have + their IP address blacklisted and put on display at + `personal.sh/it`. It's no secret that anonymity gives some people + courage to behave in a way that's unbecoming. + + 6. Prior Art + + There's a company named Urbit whose mission is quite similar: + + > An Urbit is a networked personal server that runs your apps and + > stores your data, serves as your permanent online identity and + > puts you back in control of your digital life under a + > single login. + > + > When you’re ready. + > — urbit live[5] + + Only problem is, their official site makes their mission quite + confusing[7] to many[8]. I don't know about you but if I'm + entrusting my data to something I run, I want to have more than a + *general idea* of how it works. + + *EDIT (2019.12.05):* This post has generated lively discussion on + HackerNews[9] and as a result we now have more examples of + prior art! + + - cjdns[10] + - Dogsheep[11], by Simon Willisons + - Islet[12], by Carl Hewitt + - libp2p[13] + - me-api[14], by Daniel Fang + - my[15], by Dmitrii Gerasimov + - Perkeep[16] + - SOLID (Social Linked Data)[17], by Tim Berners-Lee + - Syte2[18] / Syte2 for Zeit Now v2[19], by Rodrigo Neri and + Jake Peterson + - Unwalled Garden[20] + - Yggdrasil Network[21] + + FIN + + Elsewhere, there exists portions of the personalOS concept of + various development maturation levels. To me, this is proof of the + worthwhile nature of this idea. Will this likely end up sitting in + a repo for years after months of initial work? Probably. Hopefully + not…we'll see how it goes. 🕸 + +References + + [1] </WM-039> + [2] <https://webb.page> + [3] <https://info.ideagrove.com/knowledgebase/digital-marketing/what-is-digital-sharecropping-and-why-is-it-a-bad-thing> + [4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_hack> + [5] <https://twitter.com/urbitlive/status/1192262246384230400> + [6] <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21672481> + [7] <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18908051> + [8] <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6438320> + [9] <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21684949> + [10] <https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns> + [11] <https://dogsheep.github.io> + [12] <https://www.infoq.com/presentations/strong-types-actor-iot> + [13] <https://libp2p.io> + [14] <https://github.com/danfang/me-api> + [15] <https://github.com/karlicoss/my> + [16] <https://perkeep.org> + [17] <https://solid.mit.edu> + [18] <https://github.com/rigoneri/Syte2> + [19] <https://github.com/jake-101/Syte2-4-Zeit2.0> + [20] <https://unwalled.garden> + [21] <https://github.com/yggdrasil-network/yggdrasil-go> |