NGI Zero Core

CokoDocs — Add ODF, legacy office and PDF capabilities to CokoDocs

CokoDocs is an open-source, web-based Word Processor that is collaborative by design. In this project we're actively extending CokoDocs' use cases to include paging support (through PagedJS), OpenDocument Format import/export as well as support for some legacy file formats. In addition we will add backend system configuration, asset management, text chat and more. CokoDocs aiming to become a best in breed, highly customizable, and innovative word processor with strong privacy and security properties and elegant accessible design.

>> Read more about CokoDocs

Ethersync — Real-time co-editing of local text files

Ethersync aims to enable real-time collaborative editing of local text files. Similar to Etherpads, it facilitates multiple users to work on content simultaneously, enabling applications such as shared notes or pair programming. However, following a "local-first" approach, all files reside on the users' computers, allowing them to use their familiar editors and workflows, and to retain user control. This design enables a kind of collaboration that is simple and direct, stable and flexible, and preserves privacy. Ethersync will be a supplement to tools that track larger changes on text files, like Git, and can be used in combination with it. The project will leverage CRDTs, and consists of a server component, a cross-platform local synchronization daemon, and editor plugins.

>> Read more about Ethersync

Exter — Proxy-based external browser extensions

Exter is a web based plugin platform which allows addons to alter websites behavior/style/functionality. Instead of trusting the browsers' plugin ecosystem, let's modify the websites before browsers receive them! The goal of this project is to provide a stable and free website-extension-platform to allow future proof and flexible addon development.

As a web application, Exter opens URLs, rewrites the static content and injects client scripts to wrap default javascript functions, applies addons, then sends the sanitized/modified website to the browser. This way we have the ability to write plugins that can intercept/modify not only HTTP requests, but even client side functionalities, such as sanitizing 3rd party content or appending new DOM elements to the website or altering cookie handling from javascript and much more.

>> Read more about Exter

Fediverse Test Framework — Test bench for ActivityPub implementations

The Fediverse consists of individual servers, possibly running different software, that talk to each other. One of the challenges in developing for the Fediverse is to stay interoperable with all the different deployed software. As the message format standard, ActivityStreams, is extensible through JSON-LD, judging how a message is parsed, can be a hard task.

By using ideas from automated testing, we provide an application that determines a baseline how messages are processed and rendered. The process being simply: run end to end tests and record their result. From the test results a webpage is generated that provides developers the information how a message is rendered in different applications. We aim to make the framework extensible so new applications can be included.

>> Read more about Fediverse Test Framework

Guix-Daemon — Transition to a Guile implementation of the guix-daemon

GNU Guix is a transactional package manager and a distribution of the GNU system that respects user freedom. A key component in Guix is the guix-daemon, currently implemented in C++. Much of the power and flexibility of Guix comes from all of the package definitions and surrounding tooling being implemented in GNU Guile, however this doesn't extend to the guix-daemon. This difference has been a limiting factor in making changes and improvements to the way the guix-daemon works and is interacted with. The expected outcome of this project is to have a Guile implementation of the guix-daemon, and to transition to this being the default guix-daemon used. This will improve the maintainability and portability of the guix-daemon and Guix overall, as well as unlocking future improvements to the guix-daemon and connected tools.

>> Read more about Guix-Daemon

Open Hardware Manuals — Automatically generate user-friendly documentation for open hardware elements

This project will create a tool that automatically generates Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models, assembly documentation, graphics, and user guides based on user provided configurations. These documents can be continuously updated, localized, and are shareable - akin to an always up-to-date Ikea-style assembly guide. The tools developed during this project will also be applicable to other open hardware projects, empowering designers to produce hardware that is more adapted to specific contexts, without creating fragile documentation that always goes out of date when a change is made to the design.

>> Read more about Open Hardware Manuals

SCE, DelTiC and Antler — High-Fidelity Congestion Control

Some Congestion Experienced (SCE) is a project in high-fidelity congestion control (HFCC) that aims to stabilize transport congestion windows, thereby reducing queueing delay and jitter, and increasing link utilization. Our goals under NGI Zero are to complete the DelTiC (Delay Time Control) AQM algorithm, implement a new MIMD transport response aiming for max-min-fair flow competition at shared bottlenecks, and release a purpose-built congestion control testing tool, Antler v1.0. We will inform the CC community about our work, and update our Internet Drafts to keep the door open for future standardization, should the opportunity arise.

>> Read more about SCE, DelTiC and Antler

Improving the deployability of Multipath TCP — Better Multipath TCP support in the Linux kernel

Multipath TCP (MPTCP) is a standardised technology extending TCP and invented in Europe. TCP is one of the key protocols of the TCP/IP protocol stack, designed in the 1970s when hosts were attached to the network through a single cable. Today's hosts have several network interfaces, but TCP only uses one of them for a given connection. Multipath TCP solves this problem by enabling TCP connections to exchange packets over different network interfaces. With the current version of MPTCP in the Linux kernel, most of the features listed in the RFC8684 are implemented. Basic use-cases are supported but still it doesn't mean the solution is covering all needs and is easy enough to use. In short, MPTCP works well in some controlled environments but not as good in too heterogeneous ones like it is common to see on the Internet. Also its configuration is sometimes seen as difficult and/or confusing for the moment. Some work is then still needed to cover more use-cases plus to improve the usability and performances in order to have Multipath TCP adopted by a broader audience.

>> Read more about Improving the deployability of Multipath TCP

postmarketOS/phosh-mobile-settings integration — Consolidate functionality of FOSS mobile settings applications

Currently, there is no easy way for applications to install settings that then show up in the system's settings app on desktop Linux systems. As part of bringing desktop Linux to mobile phones in postmarketOS, we have created a "tweaks" app for phone-specific configuration options. With this project, the options in this tweaks app will be converted to a format described by a specification which settings apps then can implement. This in turn is part of a broader effort to make desktop Linux suitable for running on mobile phones as a means to create an operating system for phones without excessive user tracking or built-in ads, with a focus on the user instead of money.

>> Read more about postmarketOS/phosh-mobile-settings integration

Open Cloud Mesh — Improved specs and test suite for Open Cloud Mesh protocol

The Open Cloud Mesh protocol, at its core, defines a wonderfully simple JSON payload to notify another server when a user wants to share a folder or file with a user on that server. It is implemented by some major Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) vendors, and used in production by several serious organisations - including major National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). But its specification and test suite are still lacking in substance and quality. In this project we will improve the specification text, flesh it out to a more strictly defined (RFC-style) text that addresses all aspects and considerations of the protocol. In addition we improve the test suite so that it can be run in Continuous Integration (CI) instead of requiring frequent manual intervention, and clarify any incompatibilities we find between implementations.

>> Read more about Open Cloud Mesh

Pleroma — Scalable ActivityPub server written in Elixir

Pleroma is an extendable ActivityPub communication server. Pleroma can be as light-weight as you want it to be, fit for both running from a homeserver or from more serious infrastructure. Pleroma embraces customization. Instead of trying to dictate how users should use our software, we give them options. From the backend to the frontend, there are hundreds of configurable options to satify the different needs of everyone. We know there's no single setup that works for everyone, and are more than willing to listen to users' feedback. Being part of fediverse of course means interacting with other servers and Pleroma provides the best experience when displaying other types of content, even non-microbliging. Fediverse nowadays is a very big place with a lot of different people, who don't necessarily agree with each other or have good intentions. To help with the insurmountable task to moderate the stream of incoming and outgoing content, Pleroma has Message Rewrite Facility, allowing instance administrators to automatically act upon activities including modifying them and deciding whether to show them in federated timeline or not. Having more detailed and partially automated moderation helps create a network where users don't have to worry about not being able to talk to someone else because the admins didn't have the rights tools at their disposals.

>> Read more about Pleroma

SCION-enabled IPFS and libp2p — Enhancing IPFS Performance and Resilience through SCION's Path-Aware Networking

The project summary for this project is not yet available. Please come back soon!

>> Read more about SCION-enabled IPFS and libp2p

Slint port for Android — Port the Rust-based Slint UI toolkit to Android

Slint is a next generation declarative GUI toolkit that supports multiple programming languages such as Rust, C++, and JavaScript. Implemented in Rust, a language known for its memory safety and performance, Slint can run on platforms such as Windows, Linux, Mac, QNX, and microcontrollers. The popularity of Android as a mobile phone operating system has influenced the standardisation of drivers on embedded systems to the extent that its possible to easily procure off-of-the-shelf embedded hardware that can run Android. Slint will be the first native (non-web based technology) Rust based toolkit for creating applications on Android and will allow designers and developers an alternative open source option to build the user interface for their applications.

>> Read more about Slint port for Android

Stencila v2 for ERA and EPP — Add editable, runnable code to scientific publications

Stencila offers a platform for collaborating on, and publishing, dynamic, data-driven content with the aim of lowering the barriers for creating data-driven documents and making it easier to create beautiful, interactive, and semantically rich, articles, web pages and applications from them. The latest version, a rewrite in Rust, is aimed at leveraging two relatively recent and impactful innovations: conflict-free replicated data types (CRDTs), for de-centralized collaboration and version control, and large language models (LLMs) for assisting in writing and editing prose and code. These technologies used together provide an advance in scholarly communication of research findings by powering the Enhanced Preprint Platform and Executable Research Articles at publishing venues such as eLife and GigaScience.

>> Read more about Stencila v2 for ERA and EPP

Structured Email for Roundcube — Add schema.org metadata awareness to open source email

Email is probably the only open and widespread technology bridging our private information space (Mobile, Desktop) and the public Internet. It can in fact be considered our "personal API". Structured Email for Roundcube develops a plugin for the popular Roundcube Webmail software, which extracts Schema.org data embedded in email messages. Based on that, it allows for new ways of presenting emails and interacting with them.

>> Read more about Structured Email for Roundcube

WPE Android — Embedded-friendly Webview based on WebKit

WPE (Web Platform for Embedded) is a WebKit port for Linux-based embedded devices with a focus on flexibility, security and performance on lower-powered devices. Albeit less known than Chromium, Firefox or Safari, WPE is currently deployed in millions of embedded devices (e.g. set-top-boxes, smart home devices, kitchen appliances, infotainment, etc), but it hasn't yet reached those based on the Android Operating System, which has become an important actor for certain types of devices, such as phones, tablets, set-top-boxes and even IoT devices.

In such environments, the only option currently available to leverage the power of the Web Platform is to use Android's WebView, which is based on Chromium and therefore problematic in cases where using that is not an option. By bringing WPE to Android in the form of an Android WebView-compatible component, we aim not just to make WPE available in more platforms but also to expand the options Android developers currently have so that they can choose between a Chromium-based WebView and a WebKit-based WebView for their applications. This would be great to cover Web rendering needs in general on Android, and particularly beneficial for multimedia-intensive use cases (e.g. set-top-boxes, digital signage...), as well as for other less conventional use cases such as QA & testing (e.g. testing WebKit-based browsers on Android based systems).

Last but not least, as a side effect of widening the reach of WPE to Android-based devices, we believe that we would also be bringing more balance and diversity to the Web, by making sure that developers have a realistic alternative to the Chromium-based Web rendering engine they can use to develop their products.

>> Read more about WPE Android

MLS for XMPP — Add Message Layer Security to XMPP

XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) is an IETF- standardized (RFC 6120/6121) communication protocol designed for instant messaging and other near-real-time exchange of structured data between two or more network entities. MLS (Messaging Layer Security) is an emerging, IETF-standardized (RFC 9420) protocol for end-to-end encryption of messages and a central part of the IETF MIMI (More Instant Messaging Interoperability) effort to allow communication across messaging apps, for example in the context of the EU Digital Markets Act.

This project adds support for MLS encrypted messaging to XMPP group chats. This includes creating a prototype implementation, standardizing an XMPP Extension Protocol (XEP) and introducing support in two existing XMPP clients.

>> Read more about MLS for XMPP

Zero-allocation web servers in roc — Web server framework with constant memory usage

Memory consumption in web servers is hard to predict and control. Our zero-allocation web server guarantees constant memory usage and per-request memory caps. These guarantees and capabilities make web infrastructure more reliable, because it is actually possible to calculate how much server capacity is required for a certain amount of traffic.

The vast majority of webservers are written in a language with automatic memory management. They cannot provide the guarantees that our webserver can, and often have other downsides like poor general performance and GC pauses.

The core of our webserver is written in rust, and while it works in a rust-only context, is meant to be used in combination with the roc programming language, a fast, friendly, functional language with automatic memory management, but without GC pauses. Users will be able to write web applications using roc, without having to consider how memory is allocated. At the same time, we manage the memory as efficiently as possible under the hood.

>> Read more about Zero-allocation web servers in roc

choreo-rs — Choreography programming language integrated with the Rust ecosystem

Choreo-rs is a new programming language, based on the Rust ecosystem, designed from the ground up for correct-by-construction distributed systems. In its core it is pure and functional, thus ideal for building complex concurrent systems. It takes cues from choreographic programming language research: The behaviour of all roles in a distributed application can be implemented at once from a global point of view. This high-level description is compiled to rust code for all participating roles, with the guarantee that the system will be deadlock-free. Developers can seamlessly drop down to using rust, and all of its ecosystem, for writing local code, while using choreo-rs for composing the local computations into a coherent distributed system. In this project we implement the type-checker, compiler and other developer tools for choreo-rs, to provide for a similarly friendly developer experience as Rust.

>> Read more about choreo-rs

p3pch4t — Decentralized chat platform built on i2p

P3pch4t is a decentralized chat platform built on i2p that aims to provide a feature-rich experience with huge privacy standards, so it will be easy for people to switch from well-known centralized/proprietary chat apps - such as Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Slack to one place that will have all features that user desire - including large file sharing, shared calendar, group chats, multiple devices and chat themes - all of that will come in a cross-platform app that will run on all major mobile and desktop platforms. Together with that, there will be a handful of libraries in different languages to interact with the network directly - to ensure that it is easy for other developers to extend the p3pch4t ecosystem, and to ensure that the standard for communication is well defined.

>> Read more about p3pch4t

postmarketOS: v23.12 and v24.06 Releases — New versions of the mobile operating system postmarketOS

postmarketOS keeps smartphones useful after they don't receive updates anymore: the original operating system gets replaced with an up-to-date lightweight open source software stack based on Alpine Linux. Oftentimes people use postmarketOS to upcycle their old smartphones to small home servers (like Raspberry Pis). While still experimental, we also work towards enabling all typical smartphone features too so postmarketOS can fully replace the original operating system. Besides extending the lifetime of smartphones, in postmarketOS we value the user's privacy, security and in general control over their own device. Unlike current mainstream smartphone operating systems, it is not needed to register an account and get tracked to use the operating system. Creating new releases allows us to keep the software stack up-to-date, to integrate important fixes, features and in general to get closer to provide a full smartphone experience.

>> Read more about postmarketOS: v23.12 and v24.06 Releases