Ubuntu QA:
BlogBrainstormPackage status
Log in
Ubuntu QA
The Ubuntu community has contributed 22700 ideas, 138270 comments, 2629576 votes
Idea sandbox Idea sandbox
Popular ideas Popular ideas
Ideas in development Ideas in development
Implemented ideas Implemented ideas
Idea #23620: "People Nearby" made public

Written by snadrus the 9 Feb 10 at 06:52. Category: Installation. Related project: Nothing/Others. Status: New
Rationale
Empathy IM (in standard installs) supports the "People Nearby" protocol which requires only First, Last, and Nick names, which are all given during Ubuntu setup.

Tags: (none)

9
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Configure Empathy, no auto-start
Written by snadrus the 9 Feb 10 at 06:52.
Empathy could be autoconfigured to have this protocol setup so that anyone in your local area network could IM you. This would allow one-click Empathy startup to allow local network chat & file transfer.

It's already secure as you must accept files.

This would help build Ubuntu communities in public areas as well as make file-transfers simple.

Propose your solution

Attachments
No attachments.


Duplicates


Comments
TheFinePrint wrote on the 12 Feb 10 at 12:25
I like the concept, but there is one hazard with all this: If I am at a public location I may not want everyone to know my name, or prove that I am there.

Windows Vista and 7, together with a number of firewall applications distinguish between Home networks, Work networks and Public networks.

A safe default would be 'Allow People nearby if on a Home or Work network', and make it possible for users to change this default.

This would require that Ubuntu became aware of which network it is on, based wired/wireless state, based on SSID (optionally network key), and based on IP-range/router information. The user should classify the type of network on first connection.


Post your comment