1. Tomboy Online & Snowy Frequently Asked Questions
Note: This FAQ provides general information as well as information for users interested in the upcoming Tomboy Online Alpha test.
What is Tomboy Online and Snowy?
Snowy is a web application for synchronizing, viewing, sharing, and (eventually) editing your Tomboy notes online. Snowy is free software, licensed under the AGPL, and anyone can run their own Snowy server. Tomboy Online is an install of Snowy hosted by GNOME, planned to be free for any and all users.
What works right now?
Using Tomboy Online as a synchronization server for Tomboy should work, as well as viewing your notes online. Pretty much every other feature (like sharing or editing notes) is still early in development.
Could I really lose my data?
Yes. If we break something on the server, we could accidentally trick your Tomboy install into deleting local notes. Do not participate at this time if you're not willing to be responsible for your own backups (You already have a backup, right? In case you don't, make one right now because backups are always a good idea).
If you experience *any* data loss, please file a bug *immediately*. We will drop everything and focus on you until we figure out what happened.
Are there any security risks I should be aware of?
Besides the fact that anyone on the sysadmin team could read your notes if they wanted to? Not that we know of. Yet. But one might crop up, and if it does, we'll upgrade the server and send an email to our users (if we have emails, which we might not require...this part is still TBD). This is an alpha, so it could happen, and we recommend not syncing any super confidential, classified top secret type data. Unless you have the blueprints to Iron Man, because we'd really like to see those so we could build our own suit. Or the location of the secret rebel base, we know someone who is looking for that.
What is Tomboy Online's privacy policy?
This is a great question, and we're in the process of working with the GNOME Foundation to write the privacy policy. There is currently a bug open and we hope to have it complete by beta.
When will Tomboy Online be ready for beta?
We have a goal to get to beta with the release of GNOME 3.0 in April of 2011. But that's a ways away and subject to change.
Can I join the alpha?
The alpha is by invitation only at this time. You can earn an invitation by submitting a patch, filing Snowy bugs, or bribing the right person.
This is our first time launching a service like this and we want to make sure we do it right, so we are ramping up slowly during this phase. You can add your name to the invitation list to let us know you're interested.
Can I join the beta?
Yes, we plan on running an open beta. Details to come when we get closer.
Can I brag to my friends that I'm in the super-secret alpha? Can I share screenshots?
You sure can! Blog away - there's no NDA here. We're free software so it's not like we have any secrets anyway. Well, we may know who Superman's secret identity is, but we're not telling.
How can I help?
File bugs if you see anything from a typo on a webpage to having a sync fail. Share feedback on the mailing list. File more bugs. Share mockups of your design ideas. Check out the code from the Snowy project on GNOME's git server and submit a patch. File more bugs. Tell your friends you're testing the coolest software ever. And then file some more bugs.
How can I get help?
You can get help and help Tomboy Online at the same time! We are eager to find out what problems you have with Tomboy Online so we can fix them, so if you have any questions, problems, comments or suggestions you can either mail the Tomboy Online mailing list or join the #snowy IRC channel on irc.gnome.org. This is an alpha, so we can't promise anything, but we'll do our best. [TODO: maybe add a #tomboy-online channel?]
What language is Snowy written in?
Snowy is written in Python and uses the Django framework.
What is the URL I need to put into Tomboy, Tomdroid, or Conboy (or any other Tomboy Web REST API clients)?