buddycloud

build the personal cloud

distributed by design, buddycloud has pioneered a set of tools, open source software and protocols to help you build a completely new kind of social network.
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How buddycloud works

Celebrating open protocols, open source, open ecosystems

We have rethought the architecture of social networks. Instead of traditional centralised models our design principle is to distribute control. Each site runs its own buddycloud server. Users connect and share information with other users on other sites.

This radical design gives you strong privacy controls and gives you access to friends anywhere on the buddycloud universe. [and connect to other social networks].

buddycloud is working with the W3C, Mozilla Foundation, and XSF are working together to lay the solid foundation for an open social ecosystem.

Soon all products will integrate a social layer. The buddycloud software is a simple to integrate. Our open protocols mean no single company controls your system.

Our reference server, web and android software mean your project benefits quickly from buddycloud's social tools. All buddycloud software is open source and reusable under the Apache 2.0 license.

We make use of existing open standards like ActivityStrea.ms and the ATOM syndication format. You benefit from existing libraries and supporting the open web buys you enough karma to afford a stable of unicorns! #GreatToBeOpen

Fork the buddycloud software and kickstart your project

  • Avoid re-implementing a social stack with every single new project: buddycloud ships with code examples get you started quickly.
  • The server is written in node.js, the webclient is built with Backbone, and and we have developed an Android client.
  • All code is designed so that you can quickly and easily adapt.
  • Licensed under a do-what-you-want-with-it license.

Distributed by design

How would it be if Gmail couldn't send email to a Hotmail account? Social Networks are still like this.

buddycloud has designed a new way to share: each buddycloud instance can connect and share information with other buddycloud websites. Or you can run it behind your firewall for just your team alone.

Our tools also designed to link users with legacy networks like Facebook and Twiiter.

When you start your own buddycloud site, your small instance joins a much larger ecosystem of other sites already running buddycloud and users will never have to register again and again.

How buddycloud works

Protecting privacy

  • SSL client to server encryption
  • SSL communication between servers encrypted
  • Users create private or open spaces (channels) to share content.
  • You control how data on your buddycloud is shared with the wider world

Easy share files, films, photos.

Media can be shared within just one channel or with the entire world. On one buddycloud site or between buddycloud sites.

The buddycloud media server is a bit like DropBox but enhanced to work on every site: now users and developers can manage their own media sharing. Files, films, photos are seamlessly synchronised. It just works. Learn more

buddycloud Library and API

Build your own buddycloud client with a drop in Javascript library. buddycloud also includes an API server that makes developing apps in any language easy. Naturally, great documentation is included.

// get subscribers from bccc@topics.pouet.im (curl https://api.buddycloud.org/bccc@topics.pouet.im/subscribers/posts)
buddycloud.Channel('bccc@topics.pouet.im').subscribers();

{
  "schnouki@pouet.im": "owner",
  "lancestout@buddycloud.org": "publisher",
  "james@buddycloud.org": "publisher",
  "simon@imaginator.com": "publisher"
}

Run your own buddycloud site or let us host if for you

We want you to start developing quickly and then be able to run your own server infrastructure.

You could install your own buddycloud site.

Or, to get going faster we can host your own buddycloud site and, when you grow, you can migrate out your data, users and media to your own server.

Join a helpful community

We know that changing the world is difficult. If you get stuck, we're a pretty helpful and enthusiastic bunch. And are here to help you.

Ask for help on the dev list, the chat room or in the buddycloud team channel.

Commercial licensing and support

Sometimes spinning up a large buddycloud deployment needs a little extra help. We want to see buddycloud deployed everywhere and we've got you covered.

We provide ongoing support to corporations, telcos, and software houses to to help them keep their buddycloud servers running smoothly.

buddycloud also provides consulting. For example, scaling a telco's buddycloud software stack to the multi-million simultaneous-user level.

Inventing with buddycloud

some [crazy] ideas for using buddycloud in your project

replace email

buddycloud includes all the building blocks to build on of Paul Graham's Frighteningly Ambitious Startup Ideas.

As a todo list protocol, the new protocol should give more power to the recipient than email does. I want there to be more restrictions on what someone can put on my todo list. And when someone can put something on my todo list, I want them to tell me more about what they want from me. Do they want me to do something beyond just reading some text? How important is it? (There obviously has to be some mechanism to prevent people from saying everything is important.) When does it have to be done?

buddycloud channels currently show Atom formatted Activity Streams. But these could quite easily be your new "todo-list stream". What are currently channel followers could then be able to edit what goes into and gets crossed off the "todo-list stream".

Faceblog

Sonny Piers is a regular contributor to buddycloud and used buddycloud channels and Javascripts' GetUserMedia APIto capture photos from his Macbook camera and post them into his channel. buddycloud enables him to do this by running all posts via the media server. They are then automatically resized to the right device size when a user view's his faceblog.

Using the buddycloud server and a bit of Javascript he was able to have this working in under and hour.

The ingredients to quickly build your corporate social network

buddycloud helps your you build your corporate social network. Now your team can take an idea, explore it and make things happen without needing to expose sensitive information to hosted solutions.

You can keep information belonging to you or your team secure by running your own buddycloud inside your firewall. You control which other companies can connect to your buddycloud server. And buddycloud comes with all the bits to get this working fast.

So many ideas

We're excited to see what others do with the buddycloud code. We hold regular hackathons and have an active developer mailing list. We'd love to help you realise your idea.

friends of buddycloud

companies and projects using buddycloud

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