I wish to create a platform which would connect devices where learners can gather together via video conferencing and also via text messaging. Most importantly, it shouldn’t be restricted to apps.
Can it be called a protocol ?
You can create a new protocol without even touching electronics.
I’ve got a protocol with my neighbor that if their deliveries end up on my doorstep, I take it to them and ring their doorbell. They do the same for me.
recieves package for neighbor
rings neighbor’s doorbell and shows them the package
keeps neighbor’s package for himself
This is incomprehensible. Which is to say, it’s not even a question.
A protocol is simply a set of standards that two parties agree to. They can be between people (like Alice and Bob using an agreed cipher to encrypt mail) or involve computers (in which case you have the HTTP for delivering websites, IP for connecting devices to the internet, IMAP for email services, etc.). You might have also heard of spies, government officials, etc. in movies and TV shows talk about “following protocol” or “breaking protocol”. Technically, you could create your own protocol for anything, but you would first need to find another party to agree to it (whether that’s additional devices or people you know).
One protocol you are using right now is ActivityPub! This “federates” the various different Lemmy, Mastodon, Piefed, etc. instances to form an interconnected social network that is greater than the sum of its parts!
No. If your new protocol is at level N, you just build it on top of level N-1
I prefer a 2N stack for redundancy.
