9A/ Secure Scuttlebutt Intro

From IIW

Secure Scuttlebutt Intro

Wednesday 9A

Convener: Charles E. Lehner

Notes-taker(s): Charles E. Lehner

Tags for the session - technology discussed/ideas considered:

Secure Scuttlebutt, Onboarding Difficulty, Append-only Logs, Gossip Protocol

Discussion notes, key understandings, outstanding questions, observations, and, if appropriate to this discussion: action items, next steps: 

Convener asked for suggestions. Participant suggested an onboarding demo. Convener accepted and directed participants to website https://scuttlebutt.nz/ and to the download page https://scuttlebutt.nz/get-started/ .

Participants downloaded an SSB app: Patchwork and/or Manyverse.

Convener introduced the concepts of SSB Rooms and Pubs, and proposed using Rooms for onboarding, referring to a public list of SSB rooms:

https://github.com/ssbc/ssb-server/wiki/%23ssbrooms

Convener picked a room from the list for use and shared the link to the participants.

Convener participated by running Patchwork on a new device.

Participants used the invite code from the Room in their SSB app, successfully joining the room. including convener, They found eachother’s profiles in the room connections list, approving the apps to make connections to eachother when prompted. Participants noticed there were also other SSB IDs visible in the room, which were visible only as IDs (public key based) without name or icon. Convener said that these were other SSB IDs connected to the Room whose content had not yet been “replicated”. Convener attempted to explain SSB replication. A participant requested diagrams. Convener referred to the Scuttlebutt Protocol Guide:

https://ssbc.github.io/scuttlebutt-protocol-guide/

Convener explained that SSB messages, including updating the profile info and following other users, any time when the “Publish” button is used, are permanent. A participant asked about the SSB ID (string of characters beginning with “@” and ending in “.ed25519”), if it can be used publicly; convener answered that it is public identifier for their SSB account.

One or more participants may have found the onboarding experience difficult, confusing, and/or frustrating. The convener referred to UX Research that was done on Manyverse in the hopes of expressing trajectory of improvement:

https://www.manyver.se/ux-research/

Some participants may have been unable to fully onboard. Convener continued the onboarding with the people were able to join the room.

Convener did not record session or chats, but did take a screenshot, included later in this document.

A participant asked for more technical information. The convener attempted to describe the data model of SSB, consisting of JSON messages that are hashed, signed, and structured in an append-only list called a SSB feed. The message signing format is not a standard, predates JSON Canonicalization Scheme, but has multiple implementations, and uses ed25519 (and sha256). The SSB DID Method Draft Pull Request was not mentioned.

The participants during the session did not follow anyone outside their small network, although they could connect to others via the room.

Further resources:

https://scuttlebutt.nz/docs/introduction/detailed-start/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Scuttlebutt

https://github.com/ssbc/patchwork/

Additional notes by the convener:

This was the first time I tried to lead something like this, and I apologize there was difficulty with it. If done again, I believe it should be planned more in advance, and with better preparation for answering questions. I hope this document effectively represents the onboarding process that took place at this session, that it may be useful for others doing similar processes, and that it can serve as a reference for better understanding of the Internet Identity Community and Secure Scuttlebutt. Parts of this document may be published on SSB and the Internet.

This was also my first time onboarding via a SSB Room, while previously I had always used a Pub, or LAN connection, or other method of onboarding. The Room method was successful. It resulted in a separate network but which can easily join the “main SSB network”.

Things to do differently next time:

  • Invite another SSB person in advance, to help answer questions from participants and provide additional perspective.

  • Prepare to answer common questions, with diagrams as well as words.

  • Consider preparing the session notes document as a template, with intro text and participant info ready to fill in.

  • Consider recording session video.

  • Consider saving chat.

  • Request consent from participants during the session to record their SSB ID in this document.

  • Request consent from participants during the session to record their other content appearing in screenshot(s) in this document, such as profile picture/icon, name, description, posts, contact/follow message, likes/upvotes, channel subscriptions, connections.

  • Note that pubs and room peers both appear in “Possible connections” in Patchwork.

  • Request consent from other SSB participants whose ID appear or who are mentioned in the screenshot.

  • Note that the room server does not need to be followed.

  • Request additional way(s) to contact participants securely.

  • Consider using a room server specifically for the event.

  • Consider onboarding via a pub or by LAN instead of room server.

Screenshot, Redacted

[[File:./media/image1.png|624x608px]]

The above image is a redacted form of a screenshot of Patchwork taken by the convener during the session.

Retrieved from "https://iiw.idcommons.net/index.php?title=9A/_Secure_Scuttlebutt_Intro&oldid=23704"