Beagle

Beagle

Principles

Beagle was drafted with several principles in mind. Some of these principles include:

Consistency

The user interface must be consistent across all components, using the same spacing, positioning, fonts, colours, etcetera. Consistency leads to a better user experience as user expectations about the location and function of interface elements are the same everywhere, reducing cognitive load and stress.

In addition to software, the hardware must also be consistent with the user interface and experience. Hardware should also be as consistent as possible with other hardware to ensure a unified appearance and experience. It should made with the same materials, have physical buttons located and arranged similarly across all hardware categories, and use the same colours as defined in the software.

Decentralisation

There should be no application that does more than one thing. Its focus should be on doing one thing and doing that thing well. For this reason, a web browser is not to be included by default. Websites that behave like applications should be replaced by applications on desktop or mobile. Websites that deliver content, such as video or books, should be replaced by applications that deliver that specific content.

Applications should also not be reliant on something that could be a central point of failure. For this reason, an email client is not to be included by default. Email is reliant on a mail server and the domain name system, both of which are points of failure. Also for this reason, a web browser is not to be included by default. Websites are reliant on central servers and the domain name system, both of which are points of failure.

All data must be stored locally with at least one backup option enabled, either a local storage device or remotely using peer-to-peer storage.

In addition to software, the hardware must also be decentralised. As far as possible, hardware manufacture and assembly should be done by the end user, and be designed to be easily repairable by the end user. This can be accomplished through the use of three-dimensional printers and computer numerical control machines.

Privacy

All applications must be cryptographically secure to prevent breaches of user privacy. For this reason, an email client is not to be included by default. Email is not a secure method of communication and is not private.

All data must be encrypted by default.

In addition to software, hardware must also ensure privacy. This can be accomplished with physical buttons to disable radios, microphones, and cameras.

Independence

The ecosystem must be independent from government and corporate control. For this reason, applications should make use of blockchain and cryptocurrency to facilitate a parallel economy that is disconnected from fiat currency.

In addition to software, hardware must also ensure independence. As far as possible, hardware manufacture and assembly should be done by the end user, and be designed to be easily repairable by the end user. This can be accomplished through the use of three-dimensional printers and computer numerical control machines.

Beagle

Features

Beagle is concerned with software and hardware with integration between both to ensure adherence to the principles of the project.

Software

Beagle software has both a frontend, the part of the interface the user can see, and a backend, the part of the interface that makes everything work.

Frontend

Beagle has some notable features and refinements that make it stand out from other graphical user interfaces:

Sidebars

Every app has a sidebar on the left which contains a search field and tabs below it. Tabs can be both static — controlled by the app — and dynamic — controlled by the user. For apps that require it, there would be an additional sidebar on the right that can contain tools.

Titlebars

Every app has a titlebar at the top which contains the name of the current view and can optionally include share and settings buttons for the view. The titlebar sits above a gradient to ensure readability when content appears below it. Gradients are not visible in the mockups.

No scrollbars

Apps do not use scrollbars to determine if a sidebar or view can be scrolled. Instead, gradients are used to obscure content which provide a visual indication that it can be scrolled. Gradients are not visible in the mockups.

Responsive interface

All apps and shell components extend to use the available screen space, showing more content. When on a touchscreen device, particularly phones, the sidebars retract out of view. Swiping from the edge of the screen extends the sidebar into view.

Customisability

While all apps must adhere to the defined layout, there is some level of customisability. All colours and fonts would be changeable by the user, as well as background imagery, icons, and other app-specific things like map tiles and weather animations.

Stores

Most apps would have a store where users can buy and sell content specific to the app. For information and entertainment apps, the content would be for consumption. For productivity apps, the content would be templates. For other apps, the content would be to customise the app, such as map tiles and weather animations.

Backend

Beagle has been designed with a decentralised and distributed network in mind to avoid single points of failure. Some technologies that would aid in accomplishing this goal include:

Mesh network

Traditional network infrastructure is centralised and controlled by corporations and governments. It is also highly centralised, making it a single point of failure. Mesh networking is a peer-to-peer network, enabling autonomy and sovereignty. One potential implementation is Reticulum, a cryptographically-based network stack for local and wide-area networks, which could mesh thousands of networks, potentially on a global scale.

Peer-to-peer data storage

Rather than using cloud services, which is a single-point of failure, all data would be stored locally and copies of that data would be stored remotely with something like IPFS. As this is a peer-to-peer storage solution, it would be more difficult for bad actors to compromise. All data would need to be encrypted and broken up into blocks, ensuring no single person would have the entire file on their system. This form of data storage would be optional, as local storage would be the default, however local only would limit what users could access in the stores as they would not be able to generate tokens to purchase things.

Cryptocurrency

To incentivise users to enable peer-to-peer data storage, a cryptocurrency would be created to generate tokens to pay users who permit other Beagle users to use their local storage devices to store data blocks. This cryptocurrency would be exclusive to Beagle and not exchangeable with other currencies, ensuring it cannot be manipulated externally. It would be used for the purchase of content on any of the stores in apps, as well as the store for third-party apps. The idea behind this cryptocurrency is to build a parallel economy that is not controlled by central banks or government policy, both of which are single points of failure.

Blockchain

All user accounts would be on a blockchain. Doing this avoids using centralised servers, a single point of failure. Users would be able add devices to their account. Peer-to-peer data storage, cryptocurrency tokens, and purchases would also be linked to a user account. When a user makes a purchase, this would unlock the restriction on having all blocks of content or app on the same device, enabling its download. As it is on the blockchain, users cannot lose access to their purchase if the original seller withdraws the content or app from sale. This also means that a second-hand market can exist where users would be able to sell content or apps they have purchased to other users, at which point they would lose access to the content or app once the exchange has completed.

Hardware

Beagle hardware consists of a consistent design language built with the same materials across the hardware categories, with ease of manufacture, assembly, and repairability an important focus. Privacy has also been factored into the hardware, with physical buttons to disable certain functions.

Design language

The design language of Beagle hardware is heavily inspired by mid-century modern design, which has also informed the material choices. As with the design of the software, curves feature extensively, especially on wearables which utilise more natural forms.

Materials

In keeping with the principles of the Beagle project, hardware is to be built primarily with aluminium, glass, and wood for the majority of the hardware, ensuring consistency. The choice of wood, while inspired by mid-century design, also fits with the origin of the name for the Beagle project itself. Some categories, such as the headphones, will include cloth and foam, whereas others may exclude one of the main materials. The composition of the internals of the hardware are at the discretion of the end user.

Repairability

All Beagle hardware has been designed to be easily repairable by the end user. Wherever possible, hardware components are screwed together, rather than glued, using cross-head screws.

Physical buttons

One of the principles of the Beagle project is privacy. To ensure maximum privacy for the end user, physical buttons have been included with various hardware categories to disable radios, microphones, and cameras.