It’s been officially one year since this wild and crazy ride began with asking myself the question, “What would it take to fix e-mail?” In the year since that thought experiment, it has become obvious that this project will be far more than the question asked. While this project is ridiculously ambitious, it is also very possible.
What have I accomplished? Quite a lot. A bargeload of research (or two) has been done. I have spent many hours learning about cryptography, the Go programming language, and many other topics. This website was launched. Specifications have been written for client-server communications, messages, contacts, and even a replacement for HTML that will be secure and protect user privacy. There is even both server and client code. Even some general design work for Anselus Connect, the desktop client,
How much code is there? The server code, written from scratch in Go, is a great start. The foundation has been laid and it is possible to log in. On the surface this sounds simple, but the details are complicated. The second project milestone, account registration, is very close. Rather than just slap together some test code, writing a proper client base sounded like more fun and a better use of time. The test client has been largely a matter of designing and implementing data storage. All in all, not bad for just one guy with a family, a day job, and other responsibilities.
The road ahead is an exciting one. Once account registration on both sides is complete, there will be other server-side milestones, such as upload, download, and file synchronization, message delivery, and crypto. Once the server is able to be useful, the really fun stuff – writing the client – can begin. Here’s to a bright future!