FLOSS WebApps FNS Default (LP09)

Proposed by Mike Linksvayer for LibrePlanet2009/OpenConference/FNS

As discussed in the first autonomo.us podcast there are some obvious (some easy, some hard) things that could be done to make existing free software web apps (eg WordPress) free network services out of the box.

• Source/free software notice in default template
• Default to free cultural licensing
• Include a Dynamic DNS option in all free-as-in-freedom network applications (Free_Hosted_DNS), to set the expectation that users not only "consume" applications as services, but "own" the ability to provide names to others who want to serve off that machine or their own. If you have a name for your machine, and if you provide your friends names, then you want to put whatever specific services you want on your machine, for people to find there -- and you want to teach your friends to use their own names referencing your machine, plus how your friends can do the same by installing the application on their own machines
• Web "usability" standardish things -- where should source availability and software license be noted on web pages; recognizable icons, metadata?
• Evangelize above to existing deployments of free software web apps that are free network services or very close
• Deploy from dvcs instead of tarball to facilitate publishing changes (probably merits separate session)

Session to flesh out above, propose/document solutions, list action items/targets

Comments from others

I think we should pick a few target applications early in the session, preferably ones we can make progress on right away during Sunday to show this is a doable idea. We should thus focus our choices to project codebases that people in the room are familiar with. -- bkuhn 12:19, 21 March 2009 (EDT)

How about seeing how quickly some sort of portable "insert BIND and dynamic DNS into your own free network service application" package could be set up? sjohnson 9:35, 22 March 2009 (EDT)