Mastodon and Keybase • Hacker News Board

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#21

Post by velcrovan » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:28 PM UTC

malgorithms wrote: post #4

Leace wrote: post #2

From: https://keybase.io/docs/proof_integration_guide > To send us the config, you can send us the public URL for your config file or attach it directly in a Keybase chat message to @mlsteele or email miles@keyba.se. In our example the file is hosted at https://keybase.io/.well-known/example-proof-config.json . Will this always require manual step (sending config by e-mail) or is there some automation planned?

Good q - this step will likely be automated soon. Still, there will always be one final step of our approving any integration, otherwise there would be 10,000 pr0n sites or ad sites. (We mention this in the FAQ.) But we can automate everything up to turning it on. For now, we want to talk to everyone working on integrations, so we can see what steps are working and what are confusing, what could be improved, etc. So…

I still don't get it. You have always been able to get a keybase proof for ANY website/domain without being approved first. Why do you need to whitelist mastodon instances? Why not just let people type in the domain name for their instance and get rolling?

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#22

Post by phoe-krk » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:28 PM UTC

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #5

I wonder if the Mastodon community will pick up Keybase chat as the de facto chat option with this integration in place. Chat or private messaging has always been considered the weak link of the fediverse since it's easy for bad servers to mishandle "private" toots.

How is Keybase chat federated? Using a centralized service defeats the purpose of a decentralized Fediverse.

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#23

Post by coldacid » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:29 PM UTC

codetrotter wrote: post #7

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #5

I wonder if the Mastodon community will pick up Keybase chat as the de facto chat option with this integration in place. Chat or private messaging has always been considered the weak link of the fediverse since it's easy for bad servers to mishandle "private" toots.

Do you mean for encryption or do you mean using their servers also?

My bet would be both. After all, why handle all the dirty work of implementing real-time chat that works across multiple different sites when you can just plug in Keybase instead? After all, if you're using it for encryption you already require people to have a Keybase account to have their chats encrypted.

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#24

Post by wut42 » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:29 PM UTC

insomniacity wrote: post #9

wut42 wrote: post #8

This sucks -- not all Mastodon instances will be able to use this. It's subject to approval by keybase, ensuring only big instances can use this. A step backwards a proper decentralized network…

I would imagine they're happy to support small instances if they have a legitimate userbase... why not ask them and report back?

They already somewhat said that porn related instances will not be allowed. So sex workers and such won't be able to use this. Why bother asking them?

I moved to the fediverse to NOT be controlled and regulated by corporations, because there's no need to. Adding such a feature in Mastodon is stupid. What's the next step? Integrated Twitter client?

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#25

Post by mirimir » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:31 PM UTC

This is great. But damn:

> Are there sites you won't link to?

> Like a Mastodon instance, we reserve the right to work with whichever partners we prefer. We specifically will avoid at least these sites:

> sites which encourage or are known for illegal activity

Just what is "illegal activity"? According to whose laws?

Given that Keybase servers are in the US, I suppose that means US law. And frankly, that sucks.

But please do clarify.

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#26

Post by fermuch » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:33 PM UTC

velcrovan wrote: post #21

malgorithms wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good q - this step will likely be automated soon. Still, there will always be one final step of our approving any integration, otherwise there would be 10,000 pr0n sites or ad sites. (We mention this in the FAQ.) But we can automate everything up to turning it on. For now, we want to talk to everyone working on integrations, so we can see what steps are working and what are confusing, what could be improved, etc. So…

I still don't get it. You have always been able to get a keybase proof for ANY website/domain without being approved first. Why do you need to whitelist mastodon instances? Why not just let people type in the domain name for their instance and get rolling?

But now they're showing every integration possible (as in, every mastodon instance they approve of) on their UI

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#27

Post by justrudd » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:34 PM UTC

gtt wrote: post #6

I never understood keybase as a useful product. What do you use keybase for?

I trust them* more than slack. So I use it to send credentials for to fellow developers as well as files that I want to share with specific individuals.

*Maybe I shouldn't trust them more than Slack? But I know from experience with pen testers that a password in Slack causes all kinds of problems.

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#28

Post by xgess » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:36 PM UTC

wut42 wrote: post #8

This sucks -- not all Mastodon instances will be able to use this. It's subject to approval by keybase, ensuring only big instances can use this. A step backwards a proper decentralized network…

Keybase team member here. We have more than 30 so far, and they range from some of the largest down to single-user instances.

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#29

Post by DuskStar » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:41 PM UTC

Leace wrote: post #16

malgorithms wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good q - this step will likely be automated soon. Still, there will always be one final step of our approving any integration, otherwise there would be 10,000 pr0n sites or ad sites. (We mention this in the FAQ.) But we can automate everything up to turning it on. For now, we want to talk to everyone working on integrations, so we can see what steps are working and what are confusing, what could be improved, etc. So…

> otherwise there would be 10,000 pr0n sites or ad sites. There's a middle ground: you can add integration so that it's available from CLI (`keybase prove ...`) but don't show it in GUI ("select integration") so it's not advertising that site. The proof integration guide looks neat by the way.

CLI integration available to all without a human step, but requiring approval to show up in the UI when adding integrations? I'd like that solution

Re: Mastodon and Keybase

#30

Post by jeena » Mon, Apr 15, 2019, 9:46 PM UTC

coldacid wrote: post #23

codetrotter wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean for encryption or do you mean using their servers also?

My bet would be both. After all, why handle all the dirty work of implementing real-time chat that works across multiple different sites when you can just plug in Keybase instead? After all, if you're using it for encryption you already require people to have a Keybase account to have their chats encrypted.

Why would you install different Mastodon servers when you can go to twitter.com instead?