Vole is a P2P social network that uses Bittorrent Sync

[marktuna]

Vole is like Google+ or Twitter, but there is no server, all the stuff you share is transmitted to others using Bittorrent Sync.

Vole runs in your web browser and looks just like any other web app, but instead of connecting over the internet to a central server, it connects to a server running on your local machine. When you create a post, Vole saves it as a text file in a folder on your hard drive. People who follow you have their own copy of your posts folder and it's synchronized instantly using Bittorrent Sync. Since they have read-only keys, they can't write back to your folder or interfere in any way with your data.

The posts from all the people you follow form a stream of information that is updated live in your browser.

The key technology is the Go programming language. The Vole backend compiles statically to a single binary, with no dependencies at all. No Ruby On Rails, PHP, Python, Java, etc. The binary itself is highly efficient and can run with minimal resources in the background. We can easily compile to any operating system supported by Go, and the current build is available compiled for Linux, Mac and Windows.

The frontend is built using modern HTML5 standards (Ember.js Javascript framework).

For more information, see our homepage:

http://vole.cc

And to start using it right away, see our Github repository: https://github.com/vole/vole

*** This is a developer preview only. There are many steps that have to be performed manually due to the lack of a Bittorrent Sync API, and we don't make any promises about stability until 1.0.0 lands ***

We are looking for feedback from the team at Bittorrent and from all early adopters. Our work is all open-source, so please take a look.

- Mark

[GreatMarko]

Whilst an interesting concept, may I propose a change to the title of this thread?

"Vole is a P2P social network backed by Bittorrent Sync" implies that your "social network" is endorsed/financially supported (backed) by BitTorrent Inc.

Secondly, in relation to the "lack of a BitTorrent Sync API"... an API is in development - please see the unofficial FAQ

Thirdly, you could perhaps consider clarifying your legal/licensing text on your homepage, as it currently claims "Vole gives you full control and ownership of your data." ...which if your app is merely a "wrapper" for the BitTorrent Sync service, then it's not Vole but rather BitTorrent Sync that's actually offering users "control and ownership" of their data. Also text which states that Vole is "open source" and "available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute" - well, that's not completely true, it's not fully "open source" given that BitTorrent Sync itself - on which your app relies - isn't open source and its code isn't available for "anyone to use or modify".

Finally, it would be unwise to publicly launch your "Vole" service en masse whilst BitTorrent Sync itself remains in an "alpha" phase, as there are likely to be issues/bugs, and significant changes in Sync before a full "stable" release, which could impact/cripple your "Vole" service in the meantime.

[marktuna]

Thanks for the feedback, I have changed the title as I agree that could be misleading. We are not endorsed by BitTorrent Inc. at all.

Yes, I'm aware of the plan to build an API.

Our app is not a wrapper for BitTorrent Sync, it runs completely separately and thus I feel that the text on the website is accurate. A user could potentially use Dropbox, Google Drive, etc, we just feel that BitTorrent Sync is the most open and easy solution, which is why we've provided explicit instructions on how to integrate with it.

Yes, I am aware that Sync is still in alpha. That's why Vole is marked as "developer preview only".

[kos13]

I tried it. Of course without Sync API usability is not straight forward and definitely not for an average user.

[Haron]

Great work!

I have posted similar idea some time ago (http://forum.bittorr...ased-web-sites/).

You can make Vole more user friendly by adding users possibility to write comments.

The idea how to implement this is following. User that would like to add comments should create his own BtSync folder and send R/O key to the owner of the site (via email or in other way). Owner should add this key and desired user nickname into the special file that keeps list of users in the root folder (BtSync folder). After that server should parse this file, add new BtSync folder and build site pages using user data (user answers) from this folder.

Some other ideas you can find in my post.

[Dimtar]

Hi All.

I just gave this a go after after seeing it mentioned in a Reddit post and I have to say I am well impressed given its such an early version. I don't think the setup is difficult in anyway but I can see how using the API would make the process faster.

The improvements I would see that make this viable for my friends and I are:

* Replying to a post so a conversation could be had.

* Tagging people in a post.

* Notifications of replies via a number 1 in the tab name or a flash etc. Maybe even link with Google Chrome notifications?

* A way to get at all this a mobile device outside the home, port forwarding and an app maybe but there would need to be some password etc. involved.

* A better way then gravatar for images, they require a wordpress account which I don't like. Also forgive me if this is ignorant but could BT Sync not sync the avatar?

My friends and I have been chatting on Facebook and I would love to move away from that if possible.

Some or all of this is probably in the pipeline but its my current feedback. None the less its an excellent start and I am excited to see how it progresses. I am not sure if I can help as I am not a coder but certainly hit me up if you want another tester etc.

[Xanza]

I can easily see this as becoming a very influential project in the near future. Excellent job!

Preview for anyone Interested:

My Vole Key: BL6YGCCGBAA25P3JB5OSHNTPUO3RX43U6

[Makaya]

This is just a fantastic idea! I put that idea in the wishlist back in June:

Please keep working on it, this will become a major hit!

[Dimtar]

If anyone wants to follow me (dear god)

They can do it with this key:

BHBHSTU2XITEO337OMVFBKE4U5FNSCS4A

*Updated key, set it up on a better machine*