[Gzz-commits] manuscripts/storm short-paper.rst

[Tuomas J. Lukka]

CVSROOT:        /cvsroot/gzz
Module name:    manuscripts
Changes by:     Tuomas J. Lukka <address@hidden>        03/05/30 11:33:16

Modified files:
        storm          : short-paper.rst 

Log message:
        Almost all text now there

CVSWeb URLs:
http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/gzz/manuscripts/storm/short-paper.rst.diff?tr1=1.25&tr2=1.26&r1=text&r2=text

Patches:
Index: manuscripts/storm/short-paper.rst
diff -u manuscripts/storm/short-paper.rst:1.25 
manuscripts/storm/short-paper.rst:1.26
--- manuscripts/storm/short-paper.rst:1.25      Fri May 30 10:07:23 2003
+++ manuscripts/storm/short-paper.rst   Fri May 30 11:33:16 2003
@@ -180,14 +180,22 @@
 However, Storm is able to address both downsides by
 simple cryptographic techniques.
 
+.. pointers
+
 One of the key innovations in storm is the use 
 of *pointer blocks*
 to build mutable documents on top of
 the lowest-layer append-and-delete-only model.
 A pointer block is simply a storm block which says
-``The identifier X points to document Id, overriding 
-the previous pointer blocks a, b`` and contains
-a digital signature of the above information.
+"The identifier X points to document Id, overriding 
+the previous pointer blocks a, b" and contains
+a digital signature of the above information. The pointer Id
+contains the public key used for signatures --- this allows
+only the originator of the document to validate new versions.
+A suitable user interface around pointers allows the user to
+still see old-style file names, but with the file names attached
+to his/her person, not to a particular computer.
+
 
 ..          storing
            documents on the desktop and publishing and retrieving
@@ -198,14 +206,14 @@
 .. part of the web -- URN scheme (so far experimental, 
    targetting registration):
 
-XXX Cryptic - need UI
 
 We are using an experimental URN namespace
 (Uniform Resource Name, a persistent kind of URI)
 and are preparing the registration
 of a real namespace with IANA. 
 The URN is constructed analogously to a DATA URI (RFC XXX)
-from the hash and the content-type.
+from the hash of the block content and the MIME content-type,
+for example ``urn-...XXX``.
 
 ..  Our system implements append-and-delete-only
     storage; past versions of documents are stored
@@ -215,9 +223,16 @@
 Interfacing
 ===========
 
-On the user level, Storm could be used as a
+..  On the user level, 
+..  Even without user interface changes, 
+
+At the moment,
+Storm can be used as a
 replacement for both file names and HTTP URLs
-as document identifiers.
+as document identifiers. 
+The downside is the long, cryptic URIs which
+would ideally be handled through some user interface changes.
+
 
 .. accessible through Java library or http gateway:
 
@@ -256,6 +271,9 @@
 stored on their local hard disk, and allowing them
 to conduct searches over the titles of all documents
 published on the network.
+For HTML, the Storm server is also able to insert links
+to all other documents referred to by the same pointer,
+i.e. links to *alternate* or *earlier* versions of the document.
 
 
 Conclusions
@@ -275,6 +293,8 @@
 through an HTTP gateway. 
 
 XXX Chief contributions of storm: pointers, ...??
+
+XXX Authentication, user management needs work
 
 .. A next step will be
    WebDAV support, allowing many more systems to