A list of work packages we've fully wrapped up this month. Expand any to find out more about its conclusion.
You can see our high level concepts & you can inspect our code. But nothing in between.
Fill that gap by providing proper documentation of the Portmaster. What does each component do? With what other components does it interact? Where is its code located?
In January, Daniel and David spent a lot of time to finalize the first batch of the documentation: the architecture overview of the Portmaster and all its details. Code references are included, so if you are technical enough, you can dive even deeper and check out the code for yourself.
Looking back, we actually started working on this project back in July. As time went, we often had to prioritize something else but finally made space to wrap up this first part in January.
There are a lot of things we would like to add in the future, starting off with some guides and a settings overview. Tell us what you think is missing or take a look into the Backlog to see what we already have planned.
Spice up the podcast with proper structure. Create an introduction and outro with underlined music and improve the overall storytelling.
Did you know the podcast is already older than a year? Time flies, and we felt it was OK to have an amateurish podcast for a while - but back in November we thought it was time to spice things up. Tabi and David started from scratch and re-evaluated everything from the podcast title to the exact wording in the outro. If you dig podcasts, here is the result:
Check Out the First Episode of "Coding Freedom - The Safing Podcast"
New people visiting our website still have a hard time figuring out what we do at a glance. Instead of explaining everything at once, simplify our entry-level communication and move more complex stuff into according sub pages.
After realizing the website still confused people, the concept work started back in December. That part concluded in January and then Luke and David tackled implementation in two very focused weeks. This fast pace was only possible because we did not change any structures of the homepage. Still, it was intense to do in that short period, but it was worth it: We are super happy about the result.
It was easier to explain one product instead of trying to communicate everything we do at once. So even though at first glance, the Portmaster seems to get all the attention, be assured development focus remains on the SPN.
Expand any work package to find out more about its progress, obstacles and sub-achievements.
After v0.1, focus on stabilizing the typical issues that arise with early software. Fix bugs, improve performance & stability.
Detect failures in the network and react accordingly.
Deliver to more and more pre-orders as the network matures.
In order to properly stabilize, scale and understand the network, it is crucial to have proper tools to analyze the SPN and its status. Implementing metrics was the task Daniel tackled and finished in January.
With metrics being done, the next step is to implement anomaly detection algorithms and feed them with the data. We will probably use technology from the European Space Agency which we got access through the ESA-Incubation. Stay tuned for that progress.
Clients navigate through the SPN using advertised links between nodes. In order to scale the network, both the local algorithm creating routes through the network, as well as the server algorithm selecting links it should establish within the network need to be very well understood. The anomaly detection system will help us see where something is going wrong and might also be able to point to the root cause of an unexpected event.
From a design perspective, the new User Interface was simply the minimal viable product. Go through each page and element in order to bring it up to speed with the concept design.
The new UI was a big step sure, but it is still off from the concept design. Luke is spending a good amount of time to tackle and polish each sub-design individually. This month, the navbar, the side-dash and the widgets were given a face-lift. They are ready and will be included in the next Portmaster Release. The next step will be the Network Monitor - stay tuned!
Since two vital requirements were completed, (1) re-shifting communication towards the Portmaster and (2) its documentation, now focus on spreading the word again. Define the next steps and keep everyone in the loop.
With both the restructured website and the docs being published, we feel we have finally created a place where new people feel comfortable when they arrive.
As a result, we are restarting the marketing engine and are going to set different events to spread the word, both paid and organic. Fleshing out the plans will happen in February, expect an update in this regard next month.
Describe some basics such as (un)installation, operating system compatibility, troubleshooting, how to contribute, etc...
Deprecate the GitHub Wiki. Flesh out the scope and details as you go.
The docs are nice, but far from done. That is why we reserved certain slots to progress content such as the docs or the blog. This month we decided we would like to add some fundamental guides as well as compatibility lists to the documentation. Let's see how far we come.
We also added some docs tasks to the backlog for you to explore.
Make it convenient for people to see which operating systems we support, which linux distros are compatible and which VPNs work or do not work. Make it easy for people to share their experiences with others.
The docs are nice, but far from done. That is why we reserved certain slots to progress content such as the docs or the blog. This month we decided we would like to add some fundamental guides as well as compatibility lists to the documentation. Let's see how far we come.
We also added some docs tasks to the backlog for you to explore.
Enable you to pay for the SPN with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero
January was a full month and as a result this projects was not prioritized that much. This is not a surprise and happens regularly. We are a small team and have to prioritize.