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<p>Hi Troy,</p>
<p>Thanks for your work on this. Please add
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ebible.org/sword/">https://ebible.org/sword/</a> to the master repository list:</p>
<pre
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">HTTPSPackagePreference=eBible.org|ebible.org|/sword/</pre>
<p></p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">I have added a symbolic link from
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://eBible.org/sword/packages">https://eBible.org/sword/packages</a> to <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://eBible.org/sword/zip">https://eBible.org/sword/zip</a>
(which I thought was the standard place for the zip files).
Wouldn't it make more sense to stick with the first standard?<br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/16/23 12:11, Troy A. Griffitts
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:3dae45d5-3470-4684-8449-2c4260dc6e62@crosswire.org">Hey
guys,
<br>
<br>
For a while now, we've been working on a new mechanism for
allowing a remote module installation repository to use only HTTPS
traffic to supply their modules, if they wish. A little history
and how things work in the released SWORD engine and what we have
in SVN trunk now... (skip to === NEW === if you don't care about
the history and why)
<br>
<br>
From the beginning of SWORD we have had as a core value the simple
enabling of Bible distribution. The very first versions of our
installer could use as an installation source any working
installation of a SWORD library. E.g., user 1 sets up Xiphos and
manually unzips 100 Bibles, commentaries, lexicons, dictionaries,
etc. for use with Xiphos. User 1 can then share (network drive,
USB stick, FTP) their installation folder where they have unzipped
all the data for their library, and user 2 can come along and
install Bibletime or Xiphos or any other SWORD application and
point their installer to this shared location and install from
there any Bible, commentary, lexicon, dictionary, etc., from user
1's working installation. Then user 2 can travel to their school
in Zimbabwe, plug into their school's network and share their data
folder from their working SWORD application and students on that
network can install Bibles from them.
<br>
<br>
None of this has changed. This is still a core value and still
works with all the same mechanisms.
<br>
<br>
Over the years, we have added on top of this behavior optional
optimizations for remote repositories. For example, instead of
looking for the mods.d/ folder and downloading individually all
the .conf files found there to present to a user a list of which
Bibles, commentaries, etc. are available, we first look for a
mods.d.tar.gz file with all the .conf files bundled into a single
download. This saves a lot of time working with large remote
repositories. If we don't find this file, we still fallback to
downloading the individual files. We don't want a failure to
happen when passing along Bibles if this optimization is not in
place, but we do want to speed things up if the manager of the
remote repository knows how to manage their repository optimally
and is willing to do this extra work to keep this file in place
and up to date.
<br>
<br>
Over the years, the FTP protocol, which SWORD has primarily used
for remote module installation over the internet, has seen data
providers block traffic due to its unencrypted nature. Being
Bible distributors, in most cases we don't care if anyone snoops
on our data packets. Generally, again in most cases, we WANT
people to snoop. We don't require user / password for
distribution so the security issues involved in sending those in
plain text don't apply to our applications, generally. Now, of
course there are scenarios which people may wish to distribute
Bibles without public knowledge, and sometimes users may wish to
protect their modules with username / password credentials, and
for this we have historically also supported SFTP.
<br>
<br>
One driving factor for the latest improvement described below is
that we have found some mobile data providers blocking FTP traffic
on their network, requiring our users to get to a WiFi connection
before they can install Bibles, etc.
<br>
<br>
<br>
=== NEW ===
<br>
<br>
In SVN trunk there is code to handle a new facility for remote
module installation. Like the optional optimization with the
mods.d.tar.gz file, this new mechanism is optional. All will work
as before if nothing is changed.
<br>
<br>
Fully enabling the new mechanism consists of 4 steps:
<br>
<br>
1. assuring https access to the root folder of your module
repository.
<br>
<br>
2. mods.d.tar.gz is required for this mechanism to be successful.
<br>
<br>
3. module.zip files must be available from a packages/ folder at
the root of your module repository folder. These .zip files have
been historically required for JSword-based apps because JSword
does not yet know how to install from an working installation of
modules, as described at the beginning of this email. So because
many of our repository maintainers support JSword, this step might
be as simple as creating a packages/ -> symbolic link to your
JSword .zip module files folder, if you are already maintaining
zip files.
<br>
<br>
4. adding an HTTPSPackagePreference entry into our master
repository list telling us the server, and path on that server, to
find your repository with https
<br>
<br>
<br>
The main CrossWire repository now has this mechanism enabled and
can be used as a reference to test frontends and can be used as an
example for remote module installation repository maintainers.
<br>
<br>
For CrossWire main, #1 is available here, and at the root of this
location you can also see #2 mods.d.tar.gz and #3 packages/ :
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/raw/">https://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/raw/</a>
<br>
<br>
Step 4 can be seen in our master repo list, the first entry under
[Repos] here:
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/masterRepoList.conf">https://crosswire.org/ftpmirror/pub/sword/masterRepoList.conf</a>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Any SWORD app compiled against SVN trunk should now only use HTTPS
when installing modules from CrossWire main.
<br>
<br>
May I ask to please test and give feedback? Thank you for all the
advice and encouragement to add this functionality. I pray this
enhances our ability to distribute more Bibles to those who have
yet to hear the Good New of Jesus Christ and to be used by Him to
build up His church,
<br>
<br>
Troy
<br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________
<br>
sword-devel mailing list: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:sword-devel@crosswire.org">sword-devel@crosswire.org</a>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel">http://crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel</a>
<br>
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<br>
</blockquote>
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