Fwd: OLPC Laptop - some suggestions for the software

[thomasasta at gmx.net]

>> What do you think of the
>> serverless instant messenger Cspace.in?
>
> It isn't really appropriate for our use case. We'd have to hack it very
> extensively to be able to use it, and we've instead opted to implement
> the relevant functionality ourselves.

So which Instant Messenger client and which Messenger protocol will be used ?
There is a full linux implementation if Cspace and it is working perfectly.

http://www.aabdalla.com/cspace/

Meshing:
Hi David und Ivan.

How does the wireless laptop get their IP-Adress? You want to build in servers every 500 meters?
Why not a decentral auto-ip-signement and then a routing/hopping protocol from laptop antenna 
to laptop antenna until the ISP Node is found?

OLSR or the follow up B.A.T.M.A.N. is quite good for that,
and: there is as well the option to add auto-ip-signment to Batman.

Then there exist as well a code, which all can do this, but it is closed source:

http://www.meshnode.net/

Here the OLSR code is used with auto-ip-signment for the meshing.

Third, next to Batman and Meshnode, there is the new wireless WIMAX, which will provide DSL over air wireless in a distance of 50 km.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAX

Why then not a network of WIMAX Providers? 

> > and second, there is a mesh network protocol to have all wireless
> > laptops meshed together, then you do not need servers. CALLED:
> > B.A.T.M.A.N. (search google in combination with OLSR or freifunk ) it
> > is the followup of OLSR.org
> 
> This piece of software was already brought up here, and I explained why
> it can't be used. Our mesh routing happens in hardware, so this and
> similar solutions aren't an option.

No, the mesh routing is software. It's software which runs on the ARM
CPU in the wireless chip rather than on the host CPU, but it's software
nonetheless.

A proper open-source version of that firmware would be very nice.


OLPC is about *education*, not about laptops. That's not a marketing
phrase. It's a defining statement about the entire project and its
underpinnings. And so on the rare and unfortunate occasions, like with
the firmware, that the two collide -- education wins. Certes, it must!

> No, the mesh routing is software. It's software which runs on the ARM
> CPU in the wireless chip rather than on the host CPU, but it's software
> nonetheless.

My point was that the routing executes on dedicated hardware, not that
it runs in silicon. But this is picking nits, because the dedicated ARM
is such an ultra-constrained environment that there's no open
source/free routing firmware that even functions in such conditions that
we know of, and certainly standard routing daemons aimed for execution
on normal CPUs don't stand a chance. Want an entry in our hall of fame?
Prove me wrong.

Kind regards !
tom
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