WebRTC Everywhere (Beyond the Browser) @ Data Terra Nemo 2015

Talk by Feross Aboukhadijeh (that's me!) at Data Terra Nemo 2015 (http://dtn.is).

https://webtorrent.io
https://instant.io
http://feross.org

Transcript

1. WebRTC Everywhere
   by Feross
   

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2. WebRTC
   Beyond the Browser
   

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3. WebTorrent
   4 BitTorrent in the browser
   4 True P2P implementation – not just a proxy
   4 No install – pure JavaScript with WebRTC
   4 Exposes files as node-style streams
   4 Stream into , , VLC, Chromecast,
   Airplay, etc.
   

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4. var WebTorrent = require('webtorrent')
   var client = new WebTorrent()
   client.add('magnet:...', function (torrent) {
   console.log('Got torrent metadata!', torrent.infoHash)
   torrent.files.forEach(function (file) {
   var video = document.createElement('video')
   document.body.appendChild(video)
   file.createReadStream().pipe(video)
   })
   })
   

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5. Astro
   Bob Ren
   Daniel Posch
   Feross Aboukhadijeh
   Iván Todorovich
   John Hiesey
   Joseph Dykstra
   Mathias Buus
   Travis Fischer
   many more...
   

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6. P2P
   

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7. POWER TO THE PEOPLE
   

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8. Freedom
   

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9. True personal computing
   

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10. WebRTC
    

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11. WebRTC is a backdoor
    4 Companies just want browser video chat
    4 But they're building P2P into the fabric of the web
    4 Let's use this opportunity!
    

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12. WebRTC Data Channel
    

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13. Data Channel Unintended Consequences
    4 Peer-assisted delivery (PeerCDN, Peer5, others)
    4 File transfer (WebTorrent, Sharefest)
    4 Website hosting over torrents
    4 Chat/email/encrypted real-time communications
    4 All future P2P protocols!
    

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14. WebRTC Whiteboard
    Demo
    

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15. WebRTC Whiteboard
    whiteboard.webtorrent.io
    

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16. WebRTC Whiteboard
    whiteboard.webtorrent.io
    github.com/feross/whiteboard
    

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17. Another unintended consequence...
    WebRTC beyond the
    browser
    

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18. This is WebRTC Everywhere
    4 WebRTC in web apps (desktop & mobile)
    4 WebRTC in desktop apps
    4 WebRTC in server apps
    4 WebRTC in mobile apps
    

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19. WebRTC is universal
    

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20. Only transport that works
    in the browser
    

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21. You get NAT traversal for free
    

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22. No cross-origin policy
    

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23. Mandatory transport
    encryption
    

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24. Data Channel API is easy!
    var channel = peer.createDataChannel()
    channel.send('hi')
    channel.addEventListener('message', function (event) {
    console.log('got message: ' + event.data)
    })
    

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25. Where does WebRTC work
    today?
    

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26. WebRTC support in Web Apps
    4 Google Chrome - supported
    4 Mozilla Firefox - supported
    4 Opera - supported
    4 Microsoft Edge (next IE) - planned
    4 Apple Safari - no comment
    

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27. WebRTC support in Desktop apps
    4 Electron (atom-shell) - easiest choice!
    4 NW.js (node-webkit) - also super easy!
    4 Google's webrtc.org - compile it into your app
    4 Ericsson's OpenWebRTC - compile it into your app
    

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28. WebRTC support in Server apps
    4 wrtc package on npm (native dep on webrtc.org)
    4 Google's webrtc.org - compile it into your app
    4 Ericsson's OpenWebRTC - compile it into your app
    

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29. WebRTC support in Mobile apps
    4 iOS - Google's webrtc.org - compile it into your app
    4 Android - Use Chromium WebView
    4 Or, better: Just use Chrome/Firefox on Android!
    

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30. Electron is awesome!
    

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31. Same code in both places
    Demo
    

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32. friends
    github.com/moose-team/friends
    

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33. You can run it headless!
    github.com/maxogden/electron-spawn
    

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34. 
    

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35. There are challenges, and
    even some deal breakers
    

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36. WebRTC deal breakers
    

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37. No "Data Channel only" build
    4 All implementations include media component cruft
    4 Data channel build: code.google.com/p/webrtc/
    issues/detail?id=3892
    

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38. Not as lightweight as UDP
    4 Even after optimization, it won't ever be
    

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39. No IE/Safari support yet
    4 Consider using Temasys plugin
    4 Microsoft Edge support coming soon
    

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40. WebRTC challenges
    

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41. Offer/answer connection model
    4 IP/UDP/TCP is like calling a phone number
    4 WebRTC is like getting set up on a date
    

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42. Single points of failure
    remain!
    

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43. In browser, you need a domain name
    4 Possible solution: Make it work offline!
    4 hyperboot.org
    4 Service Workers
    

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44. Finding peers
    4 Easiest way is through a central tracker / introducer
    4 signalhub (used by Friends)
    4 bittorrent-tracker (used by WebTorrent)
    4 We need a general purpose WebRTC DHT!
    4 webrtc-explorer by David Dias
    

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45. STUN
    4 External service that aids in NAT traversal
    4 Lots of services just use Google's public STUN server
    4 You can run your own very cheaply
    4 Possible privacy leak, but unlikely
    

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46. Privacy leak
    4 Any webpage can query your local IPs
    4 Chrome disables local candidates on proxy/VPN
    4 Tor Browser Bundle disables WebRTC
    

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47. Streaming is a challenge
    4 No readable backpressure
    4 Writable backpressure is hacky
    4 bufferedAmount
    4 setInteval
    

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48. Despite challenges, we
    should rally around
    WebRTC
    

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49. We need more P2P apps
    

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50. We need more P2P primitives
    

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51. LET'S MAKE THE MAN
    A BIT HUMBLER
    

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52. "The sharing economy is
    mainly owned by the 1%"
    @jowyang
    

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53. simple-peer
    

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56. apps that use simple-peer
    4 Friends - P2P chat
    4 ScreenCat - Screen sharing
    4 WebTorrent - browser torrent client
    4 Whiteboard - draw together
    4 Lots of experiments: webrtc-explorer, peernet,
    rtcat, webcat ...
    

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57. bittorrent-dht
    

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58. Learn more about WebRTC
    "html5rocks webrtc basics"
    webrtchacks.com
    "simple-peer" on npm
    

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59. Learn more about
    WebTorrent
    webtorrent.io
    instant.io
    

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