Dahamsta's Project Idea

dahamsta

[ Would you believe I'd forgotten about this forum? Clever, eh? ]

I have a project. It's a "website management system", kind of an API for modular web development; kinda like PHPlib but not; kinda like PHPNuke but not, kinda like a CMS but not, etc. I posted on WEBDEV (linux.ie webdev ug) about it a while back, but although there was some interest in it, I had to back off because of work pressure. I'm back working on the code for a contracted client at the moment, I've already discussed source code ownership with him, and I think he would be favourable to me releasing it under an Open Source licence. I'll go into more detail about it if you guys are interested.

[ Sorry, I didn't see the other thread. Logic, could you move this post into that please? And to continue on from that discussion, I've thought about doing a CMS for a long time, but when you get right down to it there's tons of them out there. (Someone mentioned web-based email too!) What's needed (imho) is something that provides an API for users to develop their own modules, like PHPNuke or possibly PHPlib, but really, really simple, and really, really well documented. There are API's out there already of course, but I've found most of them to be befuddling and aimed at higher-level coders. I like the K.I.S.S. system meself.

I'm not saying for a second that what I have in mind is the be-all and end-all - much better ideas could be mooted, and I'll help out with them if I can (and I'll continue with my yoke anyway, because I have to) - but I would like to say that I think it's important that we come up with something fresh, new, different, etc. I think that rather than trying to improve something that's been done before, we'll have far more fun playing with something a little different! ]

adam

Arion

What do you have in mind? I'm assuming you mean something like a C/C++ headerfile, but in PHP. I've never really used phplib, but from what I can see, as PHP developes the need for these libraries diminish.

Can you outline an example of where you needed something that would be easly savable in a library.

Please tell me If I've picked you up completely wrong on this issue.

dahamsta

That project has gone back into hibernation for a while. I have an idea for another one though: A voting system. Not polls, or surveys, but actual online voting for groups like IrelandOffline and CorkWAN. Care to hear a little more about the concept, or should I just go and take a running jump?

adam

bro1

Originally posted by dahamsta
Care to hear a little more about the concept, or should I just go and take a running jump?

adam

Hi, I think it would be nice if you could share your ideas. So that people can commment on them...

Dr_Teeth

I was thinking about something similar over the elections, when 'electronic voting' was being mentioned. It would be interesting if the system used strong crypto.

Ie if you want to vote, you must meet up face-to-face and hand over your public gpg key to the people running the voting system. They enter your details and your key into a database.

At voting time the system sends out a voting slip (simple text file) to all the people via email (or on puts it up on the website) people fill out their slip, sign it with their private key, encrypt it with the voting systems public key and send it back via email (or paste it into a secure web form).

Down-side is that the system administrators can tell how each person voted without trying to hard (and of course, fix the result), there would have to be lots of trust placed in them.

I like crypto My current contract includes some work with a pure Java implementation of SSH2. So no PHP poo for me ta!

Teeth.

dahamsta

[ Sorry bor1, I didn't notice your post. ]

I was thinking about something similar over the elections, when 'electronic voting' was being mentioned. It would be interesting if the system used strong crypto.

I've thought about this, but the obvious problem is with identity assurance -- this is of course the core difficulty with /any/ voting system. Developing a voting system is relatively trivial once you have that sorted out. You address this below...

Ie if you want to vote, you must meet up face-to-face and hand over your public gpg key to the people running the voting system. They enter your details and your key into a database.

This is fine for a group like CorkWAN, which is reasonably centralised, but for an organisation like IrelandOffline it would be much more difficult in the format you propose. The majority of people organising the voting system are going to be based in Dublin, but even if you have one or two around the country, it still means some people will have to travel unreasonable distances to get their keys signed.

The only alternative is a Thawte-like "Web of Trust", where the organisers sign users keys when they come to the central location, and these users can sign others keys, who in turn can sign others, etc, etc. However, while this will certainly result in a larger pool of voters, it takes time to build. On top of the timescale, users on the edge of the web will have less trustworthy keys.

At voting time the system sends out a voting slip (simple text file) to all the people via email (or on puts it up on the website) people fill out their slip, sign it with their private key, encrypt it with the voting systems public key and send it back via email (or paste it into a secure web form).

The voting system itself is relatively trvial, since we'll have assured users identities and can provide them with keys or passwords based on those identies.

Down-side is that the system administrators can tell how each person voted without trying to hard (and of course, fix the result), there would have to be lots of trust placed in them.

Indeed, but this is something that would just have to be dealt with. One way would be for the membership itself to nominate members who will oversee the process. In groups like IrelandOffline and CorkWAN, there will be a reasonably large pool of technically proficient members to handle this.

I like crypto My current contract includes some work with a pure Java implementation of SSH2. So no PHP poo for me ta!

You can't call PHP poo here!

I've written a short outline of my thoughts on this for posting on IIU sometime in the future. I'll post it here when it's finished.

Ta,
adam

dahamsta

Could someone unstick this please? It's an embarassment.

adam

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

P3nfold

I scripted a pretty basic flat file based web portal in php.
Check http://www.ircpimps.com or http://www.gnetic.net for examples. It's nothing special, but an effort

If you want some help lemme know, i'm open for project dev