[liberationtech] LibrePlanet 2014 keynote

[Jonathan Wilkes]

On 03/27/2014 11:25 AM, Griffin Boyce wrote:
> Nick wrote:
>> Yep, and it worked well, with really good quality, even projected onto
>> a big screen. Questions were asked to him over IRC (mostly through
>> audience members on their laptops, some via a volunteer at the front).
>> I got the impression there was a bit of latency, but in this context
>> it didn't matter at all.
>    It was incredibly smooth to watch at LibrePlanet, only glitching twice
> (and briefly at that).  I was pretty surprised, but shouldn't be.  The
> last time I checked the speed of my Tor connection, I got 645kbps, which
> is fast enough to livestream video.  And occasionally I test Flash Proxy
> by running music videos through it :x For science.
>
>    One thing he mentioned in his talk was that it took about a day for
> him to get everything set up.  It's a pretty serious community fail if
> it takes an experienced developer who writes in C a *day* to get free
> software configured to livestream.  This is something that should be
> wrapped into a usable, well-maintained app by now.  Honestly.

1) Learn how to use some software.
2) Become comfortable using that software.
3) Become an expert in using that software.
4) Use your newfound expertise to make #1 and #2 easier for the next 
person than it was for you.
5) Realize you actually have zero expertise in designing user interfaces.
6) Return to step 1.

I agree it's a community failure that it's this hard to do this kind of 
streaming.  I also agree that this should be wrapped into a usable, 
well-maintained app.  But that's like saying, "Hey, I've got a 
nice-looking interface on my Iphone, someone should throw some crypto 
under it so I can do private chats."  In both cases there's an ethos 
missing in the respective community that ends up minimizing that kind of 
development (consciously or not).  Just spend a few seconds thinking of 
your favorite free software crypto development in the past five years, 
then spend the next few thinking of your favorite free software UI 
development.

But to add some optimism-- there was a recent change in the Tor Browser 
Bundle.  When it's ready to update, it will display a screen advising 
the user to download a newer version.  To the right of the message there 
is a big black arrow that points to the "Tor button" which will trigger 
a dropdown list with a download link.  This is great because:
1) It makes a previously hidden link easy to discover
2) It signals to me that at least one Tor dev cares about (and perhaps 
has actually watched) how other people use the software.

-Jonathan