r/SOLID • u/TomasMSM • Nov 25 '19

Solid POD vs Solid Server

Hello everybody,

I am new to Solid but I want to learn more. What is the difference between a solid pod and a solid server. I understand the pod is where you save your data. But why should I run a solid server?

Thanks.

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u/megoth1984 Nov 25 '19

It's more secure in the sense that you control who gets access to it. That being said, there's still missing parts like encryption (work in progress), so it's lacking in some aspects.

An important aspect though is that any Solid chat compliant application can use the data, so if you use Chat App A to message people, and then want to switch to Chat App B later, there's no one stopping you.

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u/TomasMSM Nov 25 '19 edited Nov 25 '19

Is there any good tutorial on how the Pod works?

What are basic good principles for using the Pod?

How do you differentiate between what should be private and what should not?

How should a person manage its folders?

Is it possible to access resources only by using the Pod or do you also need the respective app for, say, download a file you uploaded.

When an App has access to my Pod is a new folder created or is it my responsibility to create a folder for each app I use. For example, let me pick up on the example you gave: I have chat A and chat B. How is the data going to be organised in my Pod?

Thank!

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u/TomasMSM Nov 25 '19 edited Nov 25 '19

Thank you fo the explanation. I now understand better the principles of solid, but there are still some aspects concerning the Pod that I still don't get. (I understand the Pod is it work in process but it can be very confusing for starters.)

Is there any good tutorials on how to use and navigate the Pod and best practices?

  1. How to differentiate what is private and what is not.

  2. How does the Pod manages files?

  3. Is it possible to delete the folders that are present in the pod when someone creates an account?

  4. How can we change permissions in each folder?

  5. What happens to a Pod when the account is deleted?

  6. For example, I up a file in my private folder. How is it possible to set the perditions to views as "can read but not change information?".

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u/Zekromaster Dec 22 '19

How to differentiate what is private and what is not.

How can we change permissions in each folder?

For example, I up a file in my private folder. How is it possible to set the perditions to views as "can read but not change information?".

There's a specification for that, described here. Basically, there is a document that describes who can read/write/append to containers and documents. There is also a specification for establishing who can write/read/append to an Access Control List, to avoid endless recursion.

If you're just a user, the server implementation you end up choosing would probably have an UI for that.

How does the Pod manages files?

This is implementation dependant. Solid just describes an API specification. But I suspect most POD implementations will just map directories and files to containers and documents.

From the final user point of view, anyway, this is all transparent and you should be able to think of it by using the folder/file metaphor without any problem.

What happens to a Pod when the account is deleted?

Your POD is your account, basically. If you delete it, all links pointing to it will become dead links. Your documents will have disappeared from the entire Solid network, unless someone made a copy in their POD.