yadsn (yet another distributed social network) is a Git-based decentralized social network written in the shell command language. It should run on any POSIX shells. It is alpha-status software and so it should not be used with data that matters to you in any possible way.
It has the following features:
- Command-line application written in pure shell.
- It can be used without being connected to the Internet.
- Social networks as Git repositories.
- Supposing
~/binis in your$PATH, download theyadsnscript on it using e.g.wget:
wget -O ~/bin/yadsn https://github.com/davidag/yadsn/raw/master/yadsn
chmod +x ~/bin/yadsn
- Follow the quick tutorial or read all possible commands.
- Clone this repository:
git clone https://github.com/davidag/yadsn.git - Enter local copy:
cd yadsn - Create feature branch:
git checkout -b my-feature - Verify tests pass:
make - Code your feature
- Verify tests pass:
make - Push feature branch and submit PR:
git push
yadsn has been only tested with the Debian Almquist Shell (dash), the default shell in Debian/Ubuntu GNU/Linux systems, but it should work on any other *Nix-like system, possibly including Cygwin on Windows.
For users:
gitis required for basic operation.- GNU programs:
find,grep,awk,sed,wc,xargs,mktemp.
For yadsn development:
wgetis used to download thetsshell testing utility in thetest/directory.- ts (test script), a test framework for testing shell scripts (POSIX-only).
You can create a local network...
$ yadsn create team-network
Created network 'team-network'. Joined as 'david'.
...and post any messages you want using the post command:
# Using the -u flag is optional if you only have one network configured, as it's assumed in this tutorial.
$ yadsn -u team-network post "I've found this interesting tool for command-line communication, it's called yadsn."
Posted message to 'team-network' with user 'david'
You could as well use your default editor
$ yadsn post
You can see your posts using the log command:
$ yadsn log
[May 07 13:44 | #3744e29b | ❤️0] @david: Another message with this title...
[May 07 13:42 | #049a6f38 | ❤️0] @david: I've found this interesting tool for command-line communication, it's called yadsn.
If you want to see a post with more than one line, use the show command:
$ yadsn show #3744e29b
[May 07 13:44 | #3744e29] by @david (❤️0)
Another message with this title
long text with
multiple lines
When you decide you want to share your network, you can associate a remote repository to it:
# Supposing you have created a Gitlab repository named team-network
$ yadsn remote git@gitlab.com:yourusername/team-network.git
Associated network 'team-network' with remote 'git@gitlab.com:yourusername/team-network.git'
Now push your changes:
$ yadsn push
Pushed local network changes to remote
Other people who want to participate in this network could directly join to it:
# This automatically uses "team-network" as the local network name
$ yadsn join git@gitlab.com:yourusername/team-network.git
A list of available networks can be listed using the networks command:
$ yadsn networks
team-network [1 user] [2 messages] [git@gitlab.com:yourusername/team-network.git] (default)
yadsn saves all network and configuration data in a directory defined in the $YADSN_DATA shell variable. By default, this directory corresponds to: ~/.sn
yadsn uses a INI-like configuration file which resides in $YADSN_DATA/config and can contain the following variables:
-
networkname_username: When a user creates or joins a network, a new entry of this type is added. The default username is$USER. -
default_time_format: Defines the time format to use when displaying dates. Seedatecommand for reference. Default value: "%b %d %R".
Usage: yadsn [global-options] <command>
Global options
-n network-name: If not provided, and there is only one network in the
data directory, this is automatically selected. If there is more than
one, the variable 'default_network' from the config file is used.
-u username: The username to use when executing the command. If none is
provided, the variable '<network-name>_username' from the config file is
used (see -n for how <network-name> is selected).
Commands
create <network-name>
Create a new local network. -n does not apply, but -u can be used to
define what username to use by default in that network.
join <git-url> [<network-name>]
Joins a remote network identified by a Git URL. If <network-name> is
provided, it will be usually to identify the network locally.
Otherwise, the network name is deduced from the URL.
remote <git-url>
Associates a remote network identifed by a Git URL with a local,
existing network. The default network will be used, unless -n is used.
push
Push locally made changes to the remote Git repository. This command
is only valid if the network was created using the 'join' command.
pull
Pull remote changes into local network repository. It tries to rebase
your changes on top of any other change in the remote repository. It
fails in case of conflict.
members
Shows a list of users in the network.
log
Show posts, most recent first. Only the first line of each message is
shown, with an ellipsis representing messages with more than one line.
post [<message>]
Post a message in a network. No quotation necessary. If no text is
provided the default editor is used to input the message.
show <message-id>
Shows a message along all its associated information. The message id
can be obtained with the 'log' command.
like <message-id>
Like a message. The message id can be obtained with the 'log' command.
There is one Git repository per social network you have created or joined to. Each network has its own sub-directory in the $YADSN_DATA directory.
network/
user1/
posts
replies
likes
follows
All network-related files follow the CSV standard defined in RFC 4180, except for newlines, which are translated to in the files and converted back when printed in the terminal.
- Cryptographic user identification and data signing
- Integrity checks on push
- Performance tests and optimizations
- Colored output
- Automatic conflict handling on pull
- Replies and follows
- Network merging
- Message deletion and edition
Copyright (C) David Alfonso
All code is licensed under the GPL-3.0-or-later.