Let's build educational IPFS apps

ipfs-gui-team-builds-educational-ipfs-apps.md

3:06 PM <olizilla> hallo
3:07 PM <olizilla> i have an idea
3:07 PM <olizilla> i was thinking about "reaching out to other ipfs files share services" https://github.com/ipfs-shipyard/ipfs-share-files/issues/52
3:07 PM <olizilla> and the copy for ipfs-share-files
3:08 PM <olizilla> mostly thinking around why do we make these apps when there are community alternatives
3:09 PM <olizilla> to which i figured 1. it's the dweb, there should be 1000+ file sharing services 2. we do it to learn more about how the protocol should work 3.  we do it demo whats possible
3:10 PM <olizilla> but if you were an ipfs app developer, you might not want to invest a ton of time into an idea if you thought the IPFS team might then build a similar thing and have their one become the de-facto first choice
3:11 PM <olizilla> but we still need to build out apps and show whats possible
3:11 PM <olizilla> so
3:11 PM <olizilla> all our apps should aim to be "educational"
3:12 PM <olizilla> and if we can review other similar services are legit, we should also deliberately point to them from our apps, and call out what features they have that this one does not
3:13 PM <olizilla> and as an extention, we should keep our apps focused on the simple use-cases and have them link through to a walk-thru or explainer
3:14 PM <olizilla> they should be easy to use and robust, but also feel like part of a larger tutorial rather than just a dweb service that we happen to run
3:14 PM <@lidel> yes! the "official apps" could be basically an extension of proto.school (it could refer to them as examples etc)
3:16 PM <@lidel> "this is the theory, here is a small sandbox to play with it" and at the end of chapter "here is a sample app we created using concepts from this tutorial, and runs in production at X and here is git repo where you can learn more"
3:18 PM <@fsdiogo> I kind of agree
3:19 PM <@fsdiogo> Here's why: most times samples apps barely scratch the surface, I think that's not what we should thrive for.
3:20 PM <@fsdiogo> We should have robust full-featured working apps, well-built with the best practices in mind
3:20 PM <@fsdiogo> As everything we do is open source, any developer who wants to do something similar just peeks at the app code
3:21 PM <@fsdiogo> I don't think there's anything wrong with having a de-facto app for something, because that de-facto is different for everyone, you're free to use whatever you want
3:22 PM <@fsdiogo> i.e, Web UI comes bundled with IPFS
3:22 PM <@fsdiogo> You use it if you want. Not interested? Build your own and use that!
3:22 PM <olizilla> yes!
3:23 PM <olizilla> i think we should make our apps as robust as well built as possible, and call out the basic patterns of api usage that we use to make them work, so others can copy an build on them
3:24 PM <olizilla> we should be a little reserved in the features that we add, focusing on do the basics really well, so we can point to other apps and say "if you want x, try out foofiles"
3:25 PM <@fsdiogo> Does that entices not having some features?
3:25 PM <@fsdiogo> That's what I don't agree with
3:26 PM <olizilla> it means that we should put more energy into doing the simple thing really well
3:26 PM <@fsdiogo> But if we can have those features work really well why not build them?
3:26 PM <olizilla> we can build features
3:26 PM <olizilla> but our focus shouldn't be on having the most features
3:27 PM <@fsdiogo> It should be on having the best working features, right?
3:27 PM <olizilla> each feature we build should be iteratated on until we think its shows a pattern of usage of ipfs that we'd recommend
3:28 PM <olizilla> then we should contact other app builders in the community and let them know what we found
3:28 PM <olizilla> and we should document the pattern, either as part of the app or in a cook book
3:29 PM <olizilla> when thats done, we can start again, on the next feature
3:29 PM <@fsdiogo> Ok, that's it! 👍
3:29 PM <@fsdiogo> That sounds good
3:29 PM <@fsdiogo> I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page
3:30 PM <olizilla> we want to be aiming to push the ecosystem forward rather than scaring off other app builders by building all the things
3:30 PM <@fsdiogo> Yes