RE: Zoom is shite

+1
It’s all about practicality. Otherwise what is next? Move ccg repository from the Microsoft owned Github to, I don’t know, may be a blockchain-based one?

Best,
Nikos 

--
Nikos Fotiou - http://pages.cs.aueb.gr/~fotiou
Researcher - Mobile Multimedia Laboratory
Athens University of Economics and Business
https://mm.aueb.gr

From: Heather Vescent
Sent: Δευτέρα, 26 Οκτωβρίου 2020 8:34 μμ
To: Yancy
Cc: W3C Credentials CG (Public List)
Subject: Re: Zoom is shite

Yancy,

This idea has been brought up before. However, this practically adds operational overhead that IMO doesn't add ROI on the CCG mission. That's my opinion and if I was the dictator we'd have switched to Zoom long ago. Clearly I am not a dictator and listen to the desires of the community, even if they are shitposting.

It is a balance between ideology and practicality. The CCG Jitsi efforts (the chairs, Manu + Jitsi team) has spent significant unpaid resources to:
- Install/re-install/test a CCG Jitsi instance
- Monitor and unpack bugs/crashes/server issues
- Re-stitch code connections to the minutes and CCG infrastructure scripts on github
- Deal with real-time critical issues where we had to use Zoom as a fall back
- Deal with critical infrastructure updates that caused jitsi to fail for a majority of users + troubleshoot, etc

All of these majorly disrupted 4 meetings. I was planning to use Jitsi for our meeting tomorrow when I got word from Manu, that the current system as installed was still failing for a non-critical number of users.

Contrasted with the amount of time the chairs have spent on Zoom: which we can confidently count on when Jitsi fails. Maybe 1 hour total from all 3 chairs.

For me, this is about practicality and accessibility, not technological fundamentalism. It's about enabling the chairs and the community to most effectively make positive change in the future of credentials, wallets, DIDs, VCs, SSI, e.g. the topic at hand.

So while I sincerely appreciate your creative problem solving ideas, I am a harsh pragmatist about what I think is really actionable, especially since I am on the volunteer hook.

-Heather

On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 10:55 AM Yancy <email@yancy.lol> wrote:
Kim,

It would be healthier imo to investigate contracting out development and maintenance of a Jitsi instance to one or more people in the community, or pay for a service that is more in agreement with the community ethos.  In other-words, lets help pay people for their time for a service we depend.

Dan -- I still prefer Bitcoin over Gitcoin ;)

-Yancy

On 10/26/20 12:36 PM, Daniel Burnett wrote:
This may not be what Yancy had in mind, but GitCoin bounties are an option if there are some funds:  https://gitcoin.co/bounties/funder

Depends on how much we want to open up development to folks outside of the community at this stage.  Might be too early.

-- dan


From: Kim Hamilton <kimdhamilton@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 1:12 PM
To: Yancy <email@yancy.lol>
Cc: W3C Credentials CG (Public List) <public-credentials@w3.org>
Subject: Re: Zoom is shite 
 
Hi Yancy -- can you share more about what you had in mind?
Thanks,
Kim


On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 10:03 AM Yancy <email@yancy.lol> wrote:
Previously I volunteered to help with Jitsi integration, and at the time, there was discussion about paying for Zoom premium through proceeds from DIF for example.  If there is money to allocate for buying premium hosting from organizations like Zoom, it seems like we could instead funnel some of those proceeds to help pay volunteers to focus their time.  I too would like to see a video service that more aligns with the W3C CCG community ethos, but I think we can organize our efforts so unpaid volunteers need not shoulder the technical burden.
-Yancy
On 10/26/20 11:43 AM, Heather Vescent wrote:
Ryan, Amy,

Feel free to volunteer to assist in the Jitsi transition. Current unpaid volunteers include all three chairs, Manu & the Jitsi team. We are clocking minimum 1-7+ hours *each* per week.  

If Jitsi is to be a feasible long term solution, we will need dedicated volunteers to navigate/upgrade/fix bugs/etc on an ongoing basis, since I don't see operational stability provided by the Jitsi solution. So, as I wrote in the first sentence, there is a rich opportunity for _you_ to put effort where your typing is and actively support the vision of the future you want, rather than complain about not getting your desired experience without putting any effort towards it that I have seen to date.

-Heather


On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 2:05 AM rhiaro <amy@rhiaro.co.uk> wrote:
I am also disappointed to not be able to attend due to these reasons
about Zoom, as I was looking forward to hearing about IIW. I hope
someone there will be able to take notes, I'll be present in IRC.

Amy

On 26.10.2020. 07:07, Ryan Grant wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I would like to attend the next W3C-CCG meeting, sure to be full of
> juicy IIW news, but I won't be able to attend using Zoom, or
> POTS-routed-through-Zoom.
>
> I uninstalled Zoom after their horrible vulnerability in July of 2019.
>
>   https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/8/20687014/zoom-security-flaw-video-conference-websites-hijack-mac-cameras
>
>     Today, security researcher Jonathan Leitschuh has publicly
>     disclosed a serious zero-day vulnerability for the Zoom video
>     conferencing app on Macs.  He has demonstrated that any website
>     can open up a video-enabled call on a Mac with the Zoom app
>     installed.  That's possible in part because the Zoom app
>     apparently installs a web server on Macs that accepts requests
>     regular browsers wouldn't.  In fact, if you uninstall Zoom, that
>     web server persists and can reinstall Zoom without your
>     intervention.
>
> I have never reinstalled it, because you don't make a "mistake" like
> that if you're moderately culturally aligned with security.
>
> I was glad I didn't reinstall it when I found out in April that Zoom
> was actively using servers under CCP jurisdiction.  You don't make a
> "mistake" like that if you care about privacy.
>
>   https://www.secureworldexpo.com/industry-news/zoom-traffic-through-china-data-routing-controls
>
>     [...]
>
>     Zoom was routing some of its virtual meeting traffic, and the
>     digital keys that keep the meetings confidential, through servers
>     in China.
>
> I was sad today to hear that Zoom is actively censoring paying
> customers who talk about political things that Zoom does not want
> discussed.  You don't silence people by "mistake".
>
>   https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/zoom-deleted-events-censorship
>
>     Zoom Deleted Events Discussing Zoom “Censorship”
>
>       The action follows the company canceling an event at San
>       Francisco State University where Leila Khalid was meant to give
>       a talk.
>
>     on | October 24, 2020
>     by | Jane Lytvynenko
>
>     [...]  “Zoom is committed to supporting the open exchange of ideas
>     and conversations and does not have any policy preventing users
>     from criticizing Zoom,” a spokesperson for the company said.
>
>     [...]
>
>     However, Zoom did not respond to questions about which specific
>     policy was violated or whether other events have been shut down by
>     the company.
>
>     Adam Saeed, a student at University of Leeds, said he used his
>     personal Zoom account to organize the event.  He told BuzzFeed
>     News that the company deleted his event and disabled his account
>     without explanation.  He contacted the company's customer support
>     line, but said he has not yet heard back.
>
> Sometimes there's a lot of peer pressure to do a Zoom call.
> I won't make the mistake of attending.
>



-- 
Heather Vescent
Co-Chair, Credentials Community Group @W3C
President, The Purple Tornado, Inc
Author, The Secret of Spies (Available Oct 2020)
Author, The Cyber Attack Survival Manual (revised, Dec 2020)
Author, A Comprehensive Guide to Self Sovereign Identity

@heathervescent | Film Futures | Medium | LinkedIn | Future of Security Updates



-- 
Heather Vescent
Co-Chair, Credentials Community Group @W3C
President, The Purple Tornado, Inc
Author, The Secret of Spies (Available Oct 2020)
Author, The Cyber Attack Survival Manual (revised, Dec 2020)
Author, A Comprehensive Guide to Self Sovereign Identity

@heathervescent | Film Futures | Medium | LinkedIn | Future of Security Updates