Weekly Dev Meeting - Gateway deployment, freenet-chat

[sanity]

Meeting Summary: Ian Clarke and Ignacio Duart

Date: June 10, 2024
Attendees: Ian Clarke, Ignacio Duart

Key Discussion Points:

Freenet Chat Development:

• Ian has been working on the Freenet chat system and shared a specification document. He decided to focus on a web-based interface rather than a command-line interface due to ease of implementation.
• A significant topic was the method for updating contracts within the network. Ian proposed a replace contract field that allows for contract updates signed by the contract owner, similar to HTTP 301 redirects.

Technical Challenges and Solutions:

• They discussed the challenge of updating user-facing applications while maintaining contract versions. Ignacio emphasized the need for a pattern to update the underlying code without disrupting the user experience.
• The team is focusing on stabilizing the current system and ensuring the robustness of the test suite to support quick and reliable releases.

Configuration and Deployment:

• Ignacio demonstrated improvements in the node configuration, emphasizing the simplicity and reliability of the current setup.
• There was a discussion on packaging and distributing the Freenet software, ensuring it runs smoothly on various operating systems without requiring root access.
• They plan to create an optimized image for easy deployment, possibly using Docker, and explore automated deployment triggered by CI/CD pipelines.

Gateway Management:

• They discussed setting up additional gateways on EC2 instances to ensure network stability, especially when Ian is unavailable.
• Long-term plans include a decentralized system for gateway management to avoid single points of failure.

Action Items:

• Ian to continue working on the freenet-chat prototype.
• Improve node configuration and deployment processes.
• Set up additional gateways to ensure network reliability.
• Stabilize the system and prepare for a gradual rollout to a small group of testers.

Stay tuned for more updates as we progress towards a stable and user-friendly Freenet experience.