[JDEV] File transfer ideas

[David Sutton]

Hi there,

On Fri, 2002-02-15 at 22:19, jankowski at bigwhoop.org wrote:
> 
> /me agrees - I havent really seen a thorough, complete description with
> any of the new file xfer ideas...
>
Nor have I, hence starting the ball rolling :)
>
> Also, what cant people do w/ OOB that they want to?
>
I think the main issue with the whole file transfer is that the aim is
to keep the file transfer out of the xml stream used by the jabber
client itself .. xml isn't good at binary, and large quantities of data
make IM become NQIM .. Not Quite Instant Messaging :)
 
>
> I think it would be a cool if a client implemented an
> in-client-temporary-mini-httpd, using any port they wanted, to serve files
> to those requesting them.  Seems like you could roll enough security into
> the randomness of a generated URI to do at least what any other idea
> would, or at a minimum provide as much security as your jabber
> conversation would otherwise have.  That also keeps file transfer as p2p,
> and doesnt burden the server.
>
One of the key problems of the client serving the file is that it stops
anyone behind a firewall being able to send files, something that will
affect many business users, and often normal home users too .. I know of
several isps who put give dialin users a reserved class ip address, and
use a masquerading firewall for the net access .. its secure, and
protects the users, but it also stops anyone being able to see your
machine.
 
>
> The suggestion here seems like something better handled by, for example, a
> "file aggregating component"(ala an FTP service), which could clearly use
> a combination of OOB and some discovery method to do what it needed to.
> 
I used HTTP as a reference as it is the most popular of the protocols
mentioned, and many people already use that for the various different
mini-implementations i've seen .. there is nothing to stop you from
using FTP instead of HTTP, apart from the fact that HTTP is still
prefered in the whole scheme of firewalls than FTP is from what i've
seen .. although I may be wrong and i'd be the first to admit that :)

David
---
jid: peregrine at jabber.sys.legend.net.uk

-- rest of included message --

> -Matt
> 
> On Fri, 15 Feb 2002, Dave wrote:
> 
> > It sounds quite cool, but I just have a few quick questions:
> > Can you please define "server?"
> > Can you please define "client?"
> > Can you please define "sender?"
> > Can you please define "receiver?"
> > Can you please define "user?"
> >
> > I was having a little trouble following the specifics, and I suspect that
> > a more concrete definition for each term will probably help me out a bit.
> >
> > Sorry,
> > Dave Cohen <dave at dave.tj>
> 
> 
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