[tahoe-dev] [tahoe-lafs] #760: the command to create a server is named "create-client"

[tahoe-lafs]

#760: the command to create a server is named "create-client"
----------------------------+-----------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  zooko           |           Owner:           
     Type:  defect          |          Status:  new      
 Priority:  major           |       Milestone:  undecided
Component:  code-nodeadmin  |         Version:  1.4.1    
 Keywords:                  |   Launchpad_bug:           
----------------------------+-----------------------------------------------

Comment(by warner):

 My plan was to rename it 'create', and then add some options to specify
 which services you want the new node to provide. Since we want to do away
 with the Introducer eventually, I plan to retain 'create-introducer' as a
 separate command (rather than add 'tahoe create --introducer' and then get
 rid of it again later). The default node will have client functionality
 (i.e. the ability to upload and download files), a webapi server, and
 maybe storage functionality (I forget if we currently default to --with-
 storage or --no-storage).

 But yeah, 'create-node' has the benefits of

  * being longer, since creating a new client/server node is an infrequent
 operation and thus, according to Zipf's Law, deserves a longer name
  * being harder to interpret as intended for creating other things, like
 directories, or files

 I'm always on the fence as to what word to use for this client node thingy
 of ours. In a distributed-system sense, "node" is the right word: it's
 just one node out of many. If you think of things in asymmetric terms and
 really want to emphasize the difference between "clients" and "servers",
 then the node you're creating might have one or both features: sometimes
 you are creating a client-only node, sometimes a server-only node, and
 (more commonly) you are creating something that can do both. "node" has
 the bad quality of also being the most convenient term for elements of the
 file/directory DAG structure, but there we usually lean towards the longer
 terms "filenode" and "dirnode" (and only use the unqualified term when we
 need a plural: "nodes" instead of "filenodes/dirnodes" or "file/directory
 nodes").

 So, I don't know what's the best term for the "instance of the Tahoe
 program (with working directory and saved state and a persistent nodeid)
 that you're creating for eventual launch with 'tahoe start'" thingy which
 would serve as the direct object in "tahoe create-XYZ".

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://allmydata.org/trac/tahoe/ticket/760#comment:1>
tahoe-lafs <http://allmydata.org>
secure decentralized file storage grid