83 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
83 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
# RushLink
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A URL shortener and (maybe) a pastebin server for our #ru community.
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## Libraries
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Use standard-Go-libraries if the job can be done with those. As of now, these
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are the exceptions:
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- `github.com/gorilla/mux` provides useful stuff for routing requests.
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- `github.com/gorilla/sessions` for session management.
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- `go.etcd.io/bbolt` is our database driver.
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- `github.com/pkg/errors` provides a [`Wrap`] function.
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[`Wrap`]: https://godoc.org/github.com/pkg/errors#Wrap
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## Database
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We will be using [`go.etcd.io/bbolt`]. This file should be the *only* file
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apart from our monolithic binary. All settings and keys should go in here.
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Any read-only data resides in the binary file (possibly compressed).
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[`go.etcd.io/bbolt`]: `go.etcd.io/bbolt`
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## Namespacing
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All shortened URLs exist as a key on the root of the webserver, i.e. `/xd42`.
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That means that we have to separate every other page with some kind of
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namespace. Ideas:
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- `/z/` reserved for flat pages.
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- `/p/` reserved for "pastes".
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- `/u/` reserved for "users".
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- `/f/` reserved for "files".
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- `/z/static/` reserved for "static files".
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## Shorten keys and collisions
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For the first version of the keys, we will use 3 bytes encoded as base64url,
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as described in [RFC4648, par. 5]. To allow for truncate-resistant upgrading
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of the URL key format, the first bit is set to `0`. That means the first base64
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character will always be in `/[A-Za-f]/`.
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This domain contains `8388608` values. If the service is somewhat used, we will
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get collisions early when we generate those keys at random. Instead, we will
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use format-preserving-encryption to construct a counter that visits every value
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in an unpredictable order. Daan will fix this.
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[RFC4648, par. 5]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4648#section-5
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## UI design
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As is tradition in a lot of URL-shortener/pastebin-like services, we will put
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everything in a single `<pre>` tag, and if possible, just serve `text/plain`.
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A good example is <https://0x0.st>.
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The reason we would use `text/html` instead of `text/plain` is basically
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form submissions and JavaScript. Our main API should be cURL, but it would be
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useful if users could also use the website and/or drag-and-drop files and URLs.
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On the other hand, using `text/plain` saves us *so much effort*, because we
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don't have to do any HTML/CSS/JavaScript. We have native terminal support, etc.
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The best thing would probably to do both, and correctly listen to the `Accept`
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header that the client sends. We can still wrap the plain-text page in a single
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`<pre>` to keep it easy for ourselves.
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## Retention
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- If we can, we don't want to have user accounts. We store the sessions
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forever, and store a user's data in there, without having to collect personal
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data in any way.
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- URL-shortening links will be retained for always, unless the submitter
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revokes it, in which case it will be replaced by a `410 Gone` page*.
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- The probles of pastes are not solved. This is an unsolved problem*.
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* In any case, we going to comply with all European laws and reasonable
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requests for deletion.
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## Privacy
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We will try as hard as possible to not store any data about our users, and will
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only provide any data when we have the legal obligation to do so. |