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VIA Releases Source To Custom WASTE Client

Posted by timothy on from the want-not dept.

daten writes "VIA has released the source code to their Padlock SL product, based on the Nullsoft WASTE code previously pulled by AOL. Padlock SL offers encrypted chat, instant messaging and file sharing over a private peer-to-peer network. Unlike WASTE, which is still under active development, the VIA client offers a graphical interface for both Windows and Linux users and simpler configuration."

2 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. Direct Download Links by InShadows · · Score: 5, Informative

    for those that don't want to fill out the questionnaire

    Windows XP Version

    Red Hat Verion 9.0

    Installation Guide

    User Guide

  2. Messaging by pubjames · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I used to work programming software that basically transmitted information between banks. I learnt one very simple thing that I think could be really helpful for the OSS community: Separate the message from the method of delivery.

    Banks are obviously really paranoid about security. They also really need messages to get through, quickly. In the software that I worked on, you would basically configure it with a priorty list of methods that it could use to transmit the message. So the most secure and failsafe method would be the one it tried first. If that didn't work it would try other methods, gradually going down the list, which usually ended with Fax being the most primitive method.

    So how is this relevant to the OSS community? Well, we all know email is pretty much broken. Businesses want message delivery that is 1) secure and 2) reliable. Email is neither. With OSS email clients, we should change our mentality a bit and treat them instead as messaging clients, with email being just one of the methods it might use to send the message. The first thing it might try would be a secure, peer-to-peer connection with the recipient of the message. If all OSS email clients followed the same standard - perhaps based on this WASTE code? - soon most messages might be sent by a better manner than email.

    One day very soon, Microsoft is going to come out with a "better email". The OSS community will bitch about it, and then if it takes off they will try to copy it. I'd much prefer we did the innovating and MS had to copy... Come on guys!