@@ -16,21 +16,21 @@ At a very high level we have two goals for 2019: make Azimuth easier to use, and
1616
1717Next year we’ll begin to move away from some of the MEGACORP software we use in the office and replace it with our own tooling. There’s some exciting work happening in that department, but we’ll cover that in a future post.
1818
19−For some related recent thinking on all of this, see [The 100 Year Computer](./posts/essays/the-100-year-computer/), [The Current State of Landscape](./posts/essays/the-current-state-of-landscape/) and [Azimuth as MultiPass](./posts/essays/azimuth-as-multipass/).
19+For some related recent thinking on all of this, see [The 100 Year Computer](/posts/essays/the-100-year-computer/), [The Current State of Landscape](/posts/essays/the-current-state-of-landscape/) and [Azimuth as MultiPass](/posts/essays/azimuth-as-multipass/).
2020
2121For now, let’s just look at what’s on the immediate horizon:
2222
2323## Azimuth
2424
25−At lunch the other day someone on our team said something like, ‘We built a complete and working public key infrastructure, but we haven’t told anyone about it.’
25+At lunch the other day someone on our team said something like, ‘We built a complete and working public key infrastructure, but we haven’t told anyone.’
2626
2727It’s true. Azimuth is operational, secure, and well tested. It’s a pretty cool piece of technology, and it’s out there in the world for anyone to use. It also doesn’t require that you use Arvo — Arvo happens to make use of Azimuth, but it’s a completely separate system.
2828
2929So, the question is, why haven’t we told the world about it?
3030
31−I tend to think that in order for a technology to succeed, it not only has to be an important technical innovation, it also has to be easy to understand as a product. And that’s our answer: we’ve undersold Azimuth because we want it to be easier to understand by *using*, not just by reading the code. Azimuth is quite elegant as a piece of technology, but that it doesn’t matter until it has a great user experience to match.
31+I tend to think that in order for a technology to succeed, it has to not only be an important technical innovation, but also easy to understand as a product. And that’s our answer: we’ve undersold Azimuth because we want it to be easier to understand by *using*, not just by reading the code. Azimuth is quite elegant as a piece of technology, but that doesn’t matter until it has a great user experience to match.
3232
33−That’s why, in the near term, we’re focused on building on top of Azimuth ourselves. We can’t ask others to go down roads if we haven’t already been down them ourselves.
33+That’s why, in the near term, we’re focused on building on top of Azimuth ourselves. We can’t ask others to go down roads if we haven’t already been down ourselves.
3434
3535So, here’s what we’re building first:
3636
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ So, here’s what we’re building first:
3838
3939- A simplified onboarding flow for getting an Azimuth point that’s simple to share with friends over email, text or as a URL.
4040- A redesigned and improved Bridge for managing your points.
41−- An interface that allows you to easily send money between Azimuth points – without running Arvo.
41+- An interface that allows you to easily send money between Azimuth points without running Arvo.
4242
4343### Q3 2019
4444
@@ -51,15 +51,15 @@ Still under consideration:
5151
5252### 2020
5353
54−Azimuth is beginning to feel like [multipass](./posts/essays/azimuth-as-multipass/) (coming soon), with a variety of ways to use Azimuth points without ever booting Arvo
54+Azimuth is beginning to feel like [multipass](/posts/essays/azimuth-as-multipass/), with a variety of ways to use Azimuth points without ever booting Arvo
5555
5656## Arvo
5757
5858The Arvo interface has always been held back by Arvo’s technical immaturity. This is still true to some degree. The system has not stabilized completely.
5959
60−But! We’ve been using Landscape quite a lot lately. I use it daily, in fact — even on my phone. An encrypted (although not audited — so let’s not call it ‘secure’), authenticated chat where I own the keys and can read the source code is pretty cool, really. The interface isn’t perfect, but it’s nice. Landscape is a great preview of where we’re going: a simple, permanent, self-sovereign computer.
60+But! We’ve been using Landscape quite a lot lately. I use it daily, in fact — even [on my phone](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/landscape-urbit/id1393148862). An encrypted (although not audited — so let’s not call it ‘secure’) authenticated chat where I own the keys and can read the source code is pretty cool, really. The interface isn’t perfect, but it’s nice. Landscape is a great preview of where we’re going: a simple, permanent, self-sovereign computer.
6161
62−There are still rough edges, and Landscape is not nearly general purpose enough. But we have plans:
62+There are still rough edges, and Landscape is not nearly general purpose enough, but we have plans:
6363
6464### Q2 2019
6565
@@ -70,9 +70,9 @@ There are still rough edges, and Landscape is not nearly general purpose enough.
7070### Q3 2019
7171
7272- A significant overhaul to Gall, our application model, making it much simpler for users to write apps or ‘agents’ in Arvo.
73−- A new version of the compiler that makes us less reliant on jets. This will eliminate a major obstacle to achieving network continuity -- i.e., the ability for ships to upgrade themselves totally over-the-air, forever.This will clear the way to continuity (a key to being totally upgradeable over the air).
74−- A significant overhaul and stability update to Clay, our filesystem, making it possible for us to trust it for self hosting, search it easily, and depend on it for long-term data storage.
75−Tooling for hosting and hopefully a beta program for hosted Arvo instances run by Tlon.
73+- A new version of the compiler that makes us less reliant on jets. This will eliminate a major obstacle to achieving network continuity, or the ability for ships to upgrade themselves totally over-the-air, forever.
74+- A significant overhaul and stability update to Clay, our filesystem, making it possible for us to trust it for self-hosting, search it easily, and depend on it for long-term data storage.
75+- Tooling for hosting and hopefully a beta program for hosted Arvo instances run by Tlon.
7676
7777### 2020
7878
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ Tooling for hosting and hopefully a beta program for hosted Arvo instances run b
8383
8484Historically, we’ve been shy about even acknowledging we have a community at all. We’ve often felt like it was far too early to invite others in to the system.
8585
86−But, now that enough people clawed their way in I have been convinced that it’s time to evolve our approach. As long as we’re up front about the state of this 100 year computer -- that it’s live, but incomplete -- I think it’s a good thing to welcome people on board.So long as we’re upfront about the state of this 100-year computer (that it’s live but incomplete), it’s a good thing to welcome people on board. There are more areas for contribution that we readily admit, and there’s plenty to play with.
86+As long as we’re up front about the state of this 100 year computer – that it’s live, but incomplete – I think it’s a good thing to welcome people on board. There are many opportunities for contribution and there’s plenty to play with.
8787
8888Hoon school was the first effort in this direction. We intend to do a lot more:
8989
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ Scaling Hoon school up to include both a track for experts and for beginners, an
9797
9898### Q3 2019
9999
100−- Hoon School participants understand clearly how to contribute a Modulo agent, and invite others into it.
100+- Hoon School participants understand clearly how to build a Modulo agent, and invite others into it.
101101- The road toward building an Azimuth module is well understood, paved, and clear.
102102- We have clear instructions and tutorials for building Azimuth modules and using Azimuth as a login or reputation primitive.
103103