GeoPub - initial demo

Software openEngiadina
1

Hello SocialHub!

I’ve been working on a project called openEngiadina that uses ActivityPub for “local knowledge”. Local knowledge might include things like:

  • points of interest
  • events
  • local organizations and businesses
  • classifieds
  • real-time status of infrastructure

We have an initial demo of our client working and I would be very happy for feedback, questions and comments.

Demo instance: https://openengiadina.net/geopub/

A post explaining the demo and some background: https://inqlab.net/2020-04-06-geopub-activitypub-for-content-curation.html

Thanks!

2 Likes
2

This looks like a fantastic project. The Open App Ecosystem group on Loomio is another place you could seek feedback from devs and early adopters. I can imagine it being of great interest to some of the folks there.

1 Like
3

https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/how-to-represent-places-in-an-event/

4

I asked @pukkamustard some questions in the fediverse, including where to discuss them, and here is the designated place.

In general, I’m interested where geopub wants to go as it grows up:

  • how people will use it? Will they sign up for a local/central site or can they alternatively set up their own personal geopub and connect with one or more local pubs?
  • if and how it will federate?
  • ideas about UI?
5

Thanks for the questions!

Maybe a first quick clarification on the architecture behind the demo. There are two parts to it:

  • A Web client: GeoPub
  • An ActivityPub-esque backend: CPub

Both are necessary to support “arbitrary” content (e.g. events, descriptions of local organizations, etc.).

Short answer:They can set up their own.

The software need to run an instance is CPub - the backend. CPub is very much designed to be self-hostable (even on very small hardware). Individual users will be able setup their own instance and participate in the federated network. In practice I expect that most people will use an instance setup by a local organization. Very much how the Fediverse works now.

Maybe slightly different than the Fediverse, we are trying to make the backends as simple/stupid as possible. For example:

We hope this will allow us to build more “offline-first” clients, reduce complexity and reliance of backend and in general move more toward a more decentralized system.

The plan is to federate using the ActivityPub protocol.

All the things mentioned above seem to be mostly compatible with the ActivityPub protocol. Or at least that is the hope.

I imagine there to be many different applications with UIs specialized for specific data types. A bit like how Solid is supposed to work (we also intend to implement the Linked Data Platform specification - so Solid apps will also be usable clients).

There is already one specialized client that interacts with CPub (unfortunately not Free Software or open-source) - an application developed by a local Tourism Agency that allows users to comment on news entries, hiking trails and events. The comments are just ActivityPub notes that can also be seen from GeoPub (or in the future any other ActivityPub client).

CPub almost supports the ActivityPub Server-to-Client protocol, so any ActivityPub client should be usable. We are also thinking of implementing the Mastodon API as most clients seem to use that instead of the ActivityPub Server-to-Client protocol.

GeoPub is an experiment into how arbitrary data (RDF) can be interacted with. Unfortunately I do not know how to make nice or appealing UIs…

2 Likes
6

Despite being closed code, is the app viewable publicly?

7

Sent you a DM with a link.

8

This might be interesting also for you:

9

See also this ongoing discussion there where @pukkamustard is involved:

1 Like