Giacomo Vacca

On a previous post I shared my experiments with node.js as a WebSocket server. This is quite useful for people working on WebRTC prototypes and familiar with node.js. Some of the readers may have noticed that I was using plain WebSockets ('ws://' URLs). It's recommended to use Secure WebSockets instead ('wss://' URLs), so I thought of playing with the 'ws' node.js module and "add TLS". On github there's an example in this direction (see below), but I must admit I didn't understand some implications at first. I thought the instantiation of an HTTPS server was just coincidental and meant to provide the web pages and scripts in the example, and that the configuration of 'ws' with 'ssl: true' and certificates was independent. It turns out it's not. The best description of my understanding is that you need an HTTPS server to "decorate" the WebSocket module. The HTTPS server will take care of connectio...

In "FOSDEM 2015 - part I" I made an overview of this Conference and a few comments on the talk "Python, WebRTC and you", where the a peer-to-peer WebRTC service was also described. Fast forward to a Lightning talks on Day 1, afternoon: Emil Ivov about Jitsi VideoBridge . In this case we’re considering video-conference scenarios, possibly with many participants, and the ability to add some presentation features, like highlighting the current speaker. The architecture behind Jitsi VideoBridge aims to avoid a centralized mixer ( MCU ), but at the same time prevent the complexities of a Full Mesh approach. Enter the SFU (Selective Forwarding Unit) concept: the server component is “simply” a router of media streams among conference participants. A IETF Draft describes the behaviour expected for an SFU. Each participant receives one stream per each other user: it’s then up to the receiving client to take care of stream presentation. The...

I t's that time of the year when experts of Open Source software meet in frosty Brussels for two intense days of talks, conversations, and a good quantity of beer: FOSDEM . Being just 2 hours away from London with the Eurostar, the relevance/effort ratio is very high. Additionally, the event is free and held over the weekend, so it has a low impact on the normal job activity (although on the other hand it does have some on your family time, but you can't have everything, unless your kids are big enough to join you, which I'd recommend). Right after settling down in a lovely flat (AirBnB is a great choice) with three friends I started planning the sessions to follow. There are about twenty parallel sessions, so you must cherry pick. For day 1 I was oriented towards Configuration Management and Lightning Talks tracks. Day 2 had Virtualisation and Testing And Automation in my radar. As it turns out, FOSDEM is such a success that the rooms are filled incredibly fast a...