Lets-Chat : Weekly update #5

Lets-chat

Here is my weekly update for GSoC project under +Tong Hui and +Mario Behling 





Issue #8 : Key generation for group OTR chat [1] 

• Implemented the fingerprint of key using SHA-1 

• Implemented the fingerprint of key using SHA-256

• Implemented the fingerprints thus generated as 4 digit hex format

• I will be pushing the fingerprints as 8-digit hex format in my next commit

• Figured out that use of regex, instead of the loop I am using would be better as seen in TODO in my this week's commit 

• Initially I was using nested loops to implement 4 digit hex format which I reduced to a loop for reducing complexity

• Output is attached at [1]  as well as below for quick reference

Issue #19 Cannot create and enter in room [2]

• +Tong Hui raised this bug , it was because of my commits that I pushed for Issue #17 generated by me

• Fixed this bug

• Closed Issue #19

Issue #17  [3]

• I raised this issue as I felt it would be better for users to have password protected rooms by default

• I pushed changed for this issue, but somehow it is giving a bug raised in Issue #19 at the moment

Issue #16 [4]

• I raised this issue earlier, I tested it, worked fine

•  +Tong Hui tested it as well and we have closed this one :)

I plan to work on Issue #15 [5] , I have already pushed some work :) and as suggested by my mentor +Tong Hui 

[1]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/8

[2]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/19

[3]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/17

[4]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/16

Lets-chat : Weekly update #4

Lets - chat 

Here is my weekly update for GSoC project under +Tong Hui and +Mario Behling 

Issue #8 

• Added execution time 
• Made the key length as 1536 bits as required for OTR encryption
• Planing to implement fingerprint of the key as suggested by my mentor +Tong Hui 

You can go through this issue at [1], and could see the snapshots of the terminal output after each commit for reference.

Issue  #15 

• Raised this issue to implement encryption and decryption for OTR
• Implemented Hash algorithm using crypto. SHA 512 using the private hex key generated by Diffie Hellman last week by me
• Implemented AES encryption decryption on a sample text using Hmac . 

I am planing to work on improving issue #15 this week. [2] 

Issue #16

• Raised this issue to have some more quotes for raptorize plugin 
• Using this, when any of those quotes are messaged, a dinosaur appears which is quite interactive for end users
• Added some frequently used words to raptorize 

[1]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/8

[2]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/15

Lets-chat : Weekly update GSoC #3

Lets-chat 

Here is the weekly update for my GSoC project, lets-chat under +Tong Hui and +Mario Behling 

• Key - Generation : Issue #8 [1] 

As you could see, I initially used tried using random number generator [2] 

Then, I planned to use hardcore value : Number.MAX_VALUE and Number.MIN_VALUE instead of digits .  [3]

Later, I implemented key generation using crypto-js libraries [4] through Diffie Hellman as shown below :

Crypto-js libraries can be accessed at [5]

And later increased the key length as could be seen :

And added execution time [6]

Apart from Issue #8, I contributed to other issues as well :

Issue #10 [7] 

• Issue #10 involved adding quick icons for reference, I provided one for key generation [8]

Issue #9 [9]

• Issue #9 involves adding a menu for group encryption. There was a syntax error which I fixed. [10]

Issue #12 [11]

• I raised this issue to have localised date in transcript. [12]

Issue #11 [13]

• I raised this issue in order to have some hot keys in lets-chat. It is in progress, not yet resolved. 

[1]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/8

[2] https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/commit/e71a1edb04d759914985c9df266f94bb9b147de6

[3]   https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/commit/73074b0f0ec644074a3f40898f529939a42583d8

[4]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/commit/77fe5f222bb8b20349c8f5e23862e59941c9c431

[5]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/commit/4ef29d319b59640947f60873f6e7dd9c7fa930d2

[6]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/commit/d2f6668e89ccfb439483b62d393184b522d7f9f9

[7]  https://github.com/fallacy321/lets-chat/commit/f19a99827d81536ccfb698478d0e9f28daef0b6d

[8]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/10

[9] https://github.com/fallacy321/lets-chat/commit/a370fc3b6dc61f63b178c705b462bf98b90ca174

[10]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/9

[11]  https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/12

[12] https://github.com/fallacy321/lets-chat/commit/6ed2ff992e4cf8b5f8d62ba05de0a7efd0b70e07

[13] https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/issues/11

FOSSASIA : Week #2

Lets- chat

The coding period started on 25th May, 2015. 

Here is my weekly update :

•  I got write access for blug chat, thanks to my awesome mentor +Tong Hui  I will be pushing directly now instead of pull request. 

• I went through cryptocat as it has a OTR encrypted chat to provide an idea of how OTR works with chat application

•  I tried improving the message part of blug in free time, and it seems initially that the message ID {{id}} that can be seen at app/core/messages.js , changes when the user logs off, so that can be used to display the online/offline status. However, later I realised it is dynamic in nature. Hence it would be better to have the status based on attribute such as time ( app/core/message.js ) {{posted}} 

• I went through the issues related to 1:1 chat implement in xmpp and otr encryption in xmpp in lets-chat. [1]

• Tong raised a few issues on blug-chat which are assigned to me and +苟颖琦 . I pushed some changes to contribute to the issue
• 

• On clicking on OTR messaging otr.html opens which is where OTR encryption could be tested 

• I pushed a few javascript libraries as well meanwhile, which could help with the encrypted chats

• SeedGeneration could provide assistance for the generation of seeds required to obtain fingerprints in random.js

• As per my mentor's suggestion, I made a branch for my contributions : heenamahour/gsoc which is where I will be pushing the code from now on-wards

• Also, I am trying to deploy lets chat at heroku at [2] . It works fine now. 

Looking forward to the key generation issue, lets hope I am able to resolve it :)

[1]https://github.com/fallacy321?tab=activity

[2]blugchat.herokuapp.com

[3] my future contributions should be at branch heenamahour/gsoc instead of master : https://github.com/beijinglug/lets-chat/tree/heenamahour/gsoc

[4] Visit tonghuix.asia for getting in touch with the OTR encryption team :) 

I was a little bit occupied due to final year exams, practicals and other activities. I hope to be more active from next week on-wards. 

Happy summers !

Google Summer of Code 2015 : FOSSASIA : Weekly update : 1

Lets-chat 

I got accepted for self-hosted online communities communication with OTR encryption : Back-end as a student developer under awesome mentors  +Tong Hui , +Mario Behling  and (soma) +Manuel Munz   under the organization +FOSSASIA . In fact,  +Tong Hui played a crucial role to encourage me to contribute to lets-chat. I am looking forward to work with him this summers. This is 

I will be first implementing the OTR encryption chat and then plans to link it with lets-chat .

Firstly, I would like to provide a brief description about OTR encryption, OTR encryption or Off The Record messaging will enable the users to have private conversations using lets-chat. OTR is an encryption tool for real-time chat, is easy to setup and provides a smooth user experience as well. Symmetric key cryptography is used through OTR encryption and hence the same key is used by the sender (Alice) and receiver (Bob) to encrypt the plaintext to ciphertext  and to decrypt the ciphertext to plaintext.   

Moreover, since the communication channel is insecure, for encrypting the communication, OTR uses Diffie-Hellman key exchange algorithm.  In short, Alice and Bob are able to exchange secret keys in such a way that they can derive a shared AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) key that is impossible for an intruder to decipher. This protocol hence ensures deniability and perfect forward secrecysince this protocol uses new key for each message. Interestingly, OTR encryption can be used on any internet chat protocol such as Google talk, lets-chat etc. 

I plan to implement the following features under FOSSASIA this summers under Tong Hui :

• Generate long lived key : This step is going to be expensive as it might take seconds
• Since OTR uses new key for each message, for each receiver, the sender wishes to communicate to, instantiate an OTR object
• Implement function to send a message to the receiver
• Implement function to receive a message to the sender
• Ensure Symmetric key encryption
• Ensuring the sender’s message is encrypted to obtain cipher text
• Ensuring the receiver’s message is decrypted to obtain plain text
• Close private connection when the chat is closed
• Easy connectable API for front-end reuse

Note: I will be implementing the OTR encryption in group chats at first  and make sure that the code is efficient enough to use in lets-chat. 

After that I wish to implement the following :

• Display status online/offline
• Display fingerprints
• Resolve bugs if any
• Maintain proper documentation of back-end work

Looking forward to learn, code and develop this summer !

Some important links :

1. https://github.com/fallacy321/GSoC-2015

2. https://github.com/fallacy321/lets-chat

Google Code In 2014 Wrap up : KDE

KDE : Experience freedom 

KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Microsoft Windows, and OS X systems.

 It is known for its Plasma Desktop, a desktop environment which is provided as the default work environment on many Linux distributions, such as openSUSE, Mageia and Kubuntu. 

KDE project serves as an umbrella project for many standalone applications and smaller projects that are based on KDE technology. Recently KDE participated in Google Code In to provide young contributors an opportunity to get involved with KDE and inspire them to get involved with open source. 

During December, KDE managed to create over 100 tasks, with over 29 mentors. 

It gradually increased to over 277 tasks by the next month. It was great to see such an active contribution by the students to KDE and the mentors made sure the students are well equipped with the tasks. Marble managed to create maximum tasks among the KDE projects with over 50 out of 277  tasks. 

Also, for the young contributors, KDE provided over 65 beginner tasks which helped them to get involved with open source.

 Later, the students were expected to go ahead with non-beginner tasks to help them foster their skills. KDE provided tasks of varied types ranging from code, documentation/training, design, quality assurance and outreach/research. 

Some twitter follow ups : 

So happy that newcomers finished 240 tasks for @kdecommunity during Google Code-in 2014 http://t.co/no6GdtJwyB

— Lydia Pintscher (@nightrose) January 20, 2015

first week of Google code in, 68/125 tasks completed, of them 47% -beginner tasks @planetkde @valoriez @nightrose :) http://t.co/Ru8stDLYxt

— Heena (@1011011011011) December 9, 2014

Overall, KDE produced 190 code related tasks, 26 documentation/training related tasks, 41 quality assurance tasks. 

It was overwhelming to see a synchronous and healthy student mentor relationship while Google Code In. 

The students performed well with the highest score by Mikhail Ivchenko and second highest by Ilya Kowalewski . 

We thanks Google Code In to help KDE to encourage young students to get involved with KDE. 

-Heena Mahour 

co-administrator of GCI 2014 under KDE

Vagrant: Why and how

Why I am using Vagrant?

• Vagrant provides easy to configure, reproducible, and portable work environments built on top of industry-standard technology and controlled by a single consistent workflow to help maximize the productivity and flexibility of you and your team.

• Using the vagrantFile, the project developers are able to run the code in the same environment, against the same dependencies, all configured the same way.

Purpose of Vagrantfile :

• Mark the root directory of your project. A lot of the configuration of Vagrant is relative to this root directory.

• Describe the kind of machine and resources you need to run your project, as well as what software to install and how you want to access it.

How to build Vagrant?

• Make sure your system is updated. Since I was earlier using Kubuntu 13.04 which is not supported by vagrant, I upgraded Kubuntu 13.04 to Kubuntu 13.10 to Kubuntu 14.04 to be able to run it

• Check your system and download vagrant through this link 

• Perform the following bash commands :

$ mkdir vagrant_directory

$cd vagrant_directory

$vagrant init

$vagrant box add ubuntu/trusty64

• Now, open the vagrantFile and do the following :

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  config.vm.box = "ubuntu/trusty64" 

• Now, open and terminal and do the following :

$vagrant up 

To prove that it is running, you can SSH into the machine:

$ vagrant ssh

To access the vagrantfile of my system, visit github: fallacy321/vagrant

To have a look at my terminal : pastebin 

FOSSASIA 2015 : Summary

FOSSASIA 2015

Recently I visited Singapore and attended FOSSASIA 2015 talks and workshops. It was a really nice experience and I learnt a lot !

What I did?

I was selected as a speaker and presented a talk on KDE regarding the open source contribution made by +The KDE Community with respect to my journey as a Season of KDE student to Google Code In co-administrator. 

I discussed about the recent trends in our community outreach program (SoK) as well as how vast KDE is. 

I also discussed about the plasma development in KDE and how I ported the plasmoids to plasma2. 

I also discussed about the tasks created by KDE in +Google Code-in , thanks to the admin team and constructive mentors. I also discussed a bit about +KDE-Edu game pairs.

I also organised a GSoC session ( thanks to +Mario Behling for suggesting the idea :) ) .

 It went a success as it was proceeded with how GSoC works, how KDE contributes to GSoC, the attendees presented their views as well and discussed about their open source contributions during the session. 

It was nice to see so many mentors, students and new contributors during the session.

How it helps KDE?

My talk helped to spread an information about the programs and projects KDE is involved with. New contributors were keen to get involved with KDE as well.

 I also discussed about Season of KDE to spread information about the same.

Some twitter follow ups:

Learning about the journey from KDE Summer of Code to #gsoc org admin from Heena Mahour! Impressive. #fossasia pic.twitter.com/tLkfqdMlUK

— Duke Leto (@dukeleto) March 15, 2015

Hey @comprock, It was really nice meeting you. See you soon again. #fossasia pic.twitter.com/2ZhuJG49Qh

— Nikunj Thakkar (@nikunjness) March 15, 2015

Nice as hoc Google Summer of Code Singapore meetup at #FOSSASIA #GSoC pic.twitter.com/vpZ3crifgC

— Michael Downey (@downey) March 14, 2015

Awesome #gsoc meetup at #fossasia with@beaglebord @OpenMRS @kde @libreoffice thanks! pic.twitter.com/A5VsNpfeaE

— Mario Behling (@mariobehling) March 14, 2015

@1011011011011 and @akshay_ratan at #gsoc meetup @fossasia #fossasia pic.twitter.com/vGV07CduGV

— Nikunj Thakkar (@nikunjness) March 14, 2015

What I learnt?

I realized a team work, that is, contribution in collaboration could provide magical outcomes. One has to be precise while presenting a talk as time is a constraint. 

Moreover, I also met some great contributors like +Handoko Suwono , +Dhruv Goel , +Nikunj Thakkar and many others across the globe and hopefully I will stay connected to them in the long run .I also got to learn about the vast projects developers are getting involved with in different organizations and it helps one to stay motivated to open source and KDE ofcourse ! :)