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README.md
Iris
Serverless text-based forum for tilde-likes
Iris is a tiny bit of shared message and file convention that pretends to be forum software.
It is a fully usable message system, designed for use between different users on a single server.
Iris is strictly text-based, requiring no GUI or web servers.
Installation
At its core, Iris is simply a single, executable Ruby script. It has been tested and is known to work with Ruby 2.3.5. No extra gems or libraries are required.
Copy or symlink iris.rb somewhere the whole server can use it; /usr/local/bin is a good candidate:
chmod 755 ./iris.rb
mv ./iris.rb /usr/local/bin/iris
Usage
Iris has a readline interface that can be used to navigate the message corpus.
Readline Interface Example
%> iris
Welcome to Iris v. 1.0.0. Type "help" for a list of commands.
jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club> topics
| 1 | 2018-01-24T05:49:53Z | jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club | Welcome!
| 2 | 2018-01-24T16:13:05Z | jerry_berry@ctrl-c.club | Suggestions for improv...
jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club>
Commands
[t]opics
topics, t - List all topics
This outputs a list of top-level topics that have been composed by everyone on the server.
jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club> topics
| 1 | 2018-01-24T05:49:53Z | jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club | Welcome!
| 2 | 2018-01-24T16:13:05Z | jerry_berry@ctrl-c.club | Suggestions for improv...
- The first column is the topic index. This is the reference number to use when displaying or replying to a topic.
- The second column is the timestamp. This is the server-local time when the topic was composed.
- The third column is the author. This is the user who composed the topic.
- The fourth column is the title. This is the truncated first line of the topic.
Display topic
# (topic id) - Read specified topic
Type in the index of the topic you wish to read. This will display the topic and all its replies.
jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club> topics
| 1 | 2018-01-24T05:49:53Z | jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club | Welcome!
| 2 | 2018-01-24T16:13:05Z | jerry_berry@ctrl-c.club | Suggestions for improv...
jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club> 1
*** On 2018-01-24T05:49:53Z, jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club posted...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome!
It's good to see everyone here!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=== REPLY === On 2018-01-30T22:50:38Z, jerry_berry@ctrl-c.club replied...
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Thanks!
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[c]ompose
compose, c - Add a new topic
This allows you to add a new top-level topic to the board. The first line of your new topic will be used as the topic title.
The line editor is quite basic. Enter your message, line-by-line, and type a single period on a line by itself to end the message.
If you post an empty message, the system will discard it.
jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club~> compose
Writing a new topic. Type a period on a line by itself to end message.
new~> How do I spoo the fleem?
new~> It's not in the docs and my boss is asking. Any help is appreciated!
new~> .
Topic saved!
jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club~> topics
| 1 | 2018-01-24T05:49:53Z | jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club | Welcome!
| 2 | 2018-01-24T16:13:05Z | jerry_berry@ctrl-c.club | Suggestions for improv...
| 3 | 2018-01-23T00:13:44Z | jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club | How do I spoo the fleem?
[r]eply
reply #, r # - Reply to a specific topic
Replies are responses to a specific topic -- they only appear when displaying the topic.
The line editor is quite basic. Enter your message, line-by-line, and type a single period on a line by itself to end the message.
If you post an empty message, the system will discard it.
jennie_minnie@ctrl-c.club~> reply 3
Writing a reply to topic 'How do I spoo the fleem?'. Type a period on a line by itself to end message.
reply~> Simple, you just boondoggle the flibbertigibbet. That should be in the manual.
reply~> .
Reply saved!
jennie_minnie@ctrl-c.club~> 3
*** On 2018-01-23T00:13:44Z, jimmy_foo@ctrl-c.club posted...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How do I spoo the fleem?
It's not in the docs and my boss is asking. Any help is appreciated!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=== REPLY === On 2018-01-31T05:59:27Z, jennie_minnie@ctrl-c.club replied...
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Simple, you just boondoggle the flibbertigibbet. That should be in the manual.
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[f]reshen
freshen, f - Reload to get any new messages
This command reloads all users' message files to get any new messages that might have come in since you started the program.
reset OR clear
reset, clear - Fix screen in case of text corruption
This clears the screen and resets the cursor. If you experience screen corruption due to wide characters or terminal resizing, this may fix your visual issues.
[h]elp
help, h, ? - Display this text
This displays helpful reminders of the commands that Iris supports.
Philosophy
Iris must:
- Be a single file
- There should be no required directory structure or complicated setup.
- Run a single file, answer one question, and you should be going with Iris!
- Not require administrator intervention to install
- Any user on a tilde, or with his or her own server, should be able to start using Iris just by running the file.
- Not require any other software to function
- No databases, web servers, GUIs, or frameworks are require to use Iris fully.
- Require only Ruby
- Not everybody uses Ruby or is familiar with the Ruby ecosystem.
- Installing gems and libraries can be a major hassle if you don't have admin access or if there are library version conflicts.
- Iris needs no extra gems or libraries to function.
- Be durable
- A user deleting or modifying his or her messages or message file should not break Iris.
- Deleted or edited messages should leave flags or placeholders for other users to know that other content was there before.
- The Iris client should expect that any message file could be missing, altered, or corrupted, and should handle those cases gracefully.
- Be portable
- All Iris files should be human-readable (and -editable, in a pinch)
- The use of the official Iris client should be optional for a user to manage his or her messages. A text editor should suffice.
- Other clients which follow the Iris file format should work seamlessly with the official Iris client.
- Be secure
- Message files should be owned and only editable by their author.
- Iris should warn the user if this is not the case.
Technical Bits
Conventions
Iris leans heavily on convention. Iris' security and message authentication is provided by filesystem permissions and message hashing.
Message Files
Each user has their own message file. This is a JSON file containing all the messages that the user has authored. It is named .iris.messages and is located in the user's home directory.
/home/jimmy_foo/.iris.messages
In order to operate correctly and safely, this file must be:
- World-readable
- Owner-writable
- Non-executable
- Owned by the user account that will be storing messages for
%> ls -la ~/.iris.messages
-rw-r--r-- 1 jimmy_foo jimmy_foo /home/jimmy_foo/.iris.messages
Messages
Message Hash
Bad Hashes
Edit Chain
Deleted Messages
Topic List
####Replies
License
GPLv2