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PointSav Documentation

The engineering library for the PointSav platform — operating systems and services for regulated businesses that own their data, their AI, and their record-keeping outright. Where the monorepo holds the code, this wiki holds the reasoning: architecture, services, security, and the governance commitments that bind future development.

PointSav Digital Systems

Last updated · c1a3d757

Background

See all 10 articles in Background →

Background articles define the general computing concepts the rest of this knowledge base takes for granted. None of them describes anything PointSav built — they are the field's own vocabulary, written up from first principles so a reader can arrive at an architecture or services article already holding the terms it uses. Read them in any order, or read none of them: every platform article stands on its own.

These are meant to be browsed, not consulted. A reader who wants one platform term defined precisely should go to the glossary instead.

Where to start

Ten articles define field vocabulary the rest of this knowledge base assumes. These three carry the most weight elsewhere: the appliance shape, the topology term, and the practice the platform's security articles are written against.

  • Computer appliance — Hardware and software engineered as one sealed, single-purpose unit — the shape every PointSav appliance image descends from.
  • Edge computing — Why computation moves out to where data is produced. The boundary-ingest and fleet articles use the term without redefining it.
  • Security through obscurity — Rejected in professional practice since Kerckhoffs in 1883, and worth reading first because the platform's security posture is argued in opposition to it.

Appliances and minimal systems

Purpose-built computing units and the stripped-down operating systems they run on.

  • Computer appliance — Computing device pairing hardware and software engineered for one well-defined function, deployed as a sealed unit that cannot be repurposed for general computing.
  • Virtual appliance — Pre-configured virtual machine image combining a minimal operating system with a specific application, distributed as a self-contained unit for compatible hypervisors.
  • Just enough operating system — Operating system philosophy that reduces the OS to the minimum components a specific application needs, shrinking attack surface, memory footprint, and maintenance.
  • Lightweight linux distribution — Linux distribution engineered to use far less RAM and processor capacity than full-featured distributions, suited to constrained, embedded, and legacy hardware.

Where computation happens

The distributed-topology terms for moving processing away from a central data centre.

  • Edge computing — Distributed computing paradigm that places computation and storage near data sources, cutting latency and bandwidth versus centralized cloud data centers.
  • Fog computing — Distributed architecture placing compute, storage, and network services between edge devices and the cloud, defined by Cisco in 2012 and standardized as IEEE 1934-2018.

Interfaces and design practice

How software is addressed by other software, and how it is designed for the person using it.

  • Application programming interface — Defined interface that lets software systems communicate by specifying the available calls, how to make them, and the data formats exchanged.
  • User interface design — Discipline of designing human-machine interfaces to maximize usability and user experience, governed by the dialogue principles of the ISO 9241 standard.
  • User experience design — Multidisciplinary design practice covering every aspect of a user's interaction with a company and its products, coined by Donald Norman at Apple in the early 1990s.

Security practice

  • Security through obscurity — Reliance on secrecy of design or implementation as a primary security mechanism, rejected in professional practice since Kerckhoffs' principle of 1883.

See also

  • Glossary and Reference — the platform's own lexicon, plus the standards this wiki is written to
  • Core Concepts — the reusable mechanisms PointSav built, as distinct from the field concepts defined here
  • Security and Trust — what the platform does instead of relying on secrecy
Important Information

Corporate structure. PointSav Digital Systems ("PointSav") is currently a trade name of Woodfine Capital Projects Inc. ("Woodfine"), planned to become a wholly-owned Woodfine subsidiary upon incorporation. PointSav does not itself offer, sell, or solicit any security. Any securities offering associated with Woodfine's real-property direct-hold solutions is made exclusively by Woodfine, and only by means of the applicable Private Placement Memorandum.

No investment advice. This wiki's content is provided for engineering, operational, research, and development purposes. Nothing on this wiki constitutes investment advice or a solicitation to invest in any Woodfine partnership or direct-hold solution.

Intellectual property. The PointSav name, trade name, wordmark, and marks, together with all current and future PointSav- and Totebox-branded products, services, and offerings — and the software, source code, documentation, design system, and all related materials — are proprietary to Woodfine and its affiliates, except for components identified as open source. No rights are granted except as expressly set out in a written license or agreement. The full trademark notice appears in the footer of every page on this site.

Open source components. Portions of the platform are made available under permissive open-source licenses identified in the accompanying repository. Use of those components is governed by their respective license terms.

No warranty; informational use. Content on this wiki is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute a representation, warranty, or commitment with respect to product functionality, availability, pricing, or roadmap. Some articles describe planned or intended features, capabilities, and milestones — language such as "planned," "intended," "targeted," "may," and "expected" marks this forward-looking content, which is subject to change and does not constitute a commitment regarding future performance.

Confidentiality. Where an article describes an operational or deployment detail that is not intended for public disclosure, that article is not published on this wiki. Content here is general-purpose engineering documentation, not customer-specific configuration.

Jurisdiction. Woodfine Capital Projects Inc. is organized in British Columbia, Canada. References to the Sovereign Data Foundation on this wiki describe a planned or intended initiative only, not a current equity holder or active governance body.

Changes to this notice. PointSav may update this notice from time to time; the version posted on this page governs.

Not a filing system. This wiki is not a securities filing system, an electronic disclosure repository, or a substitute for SEDAR+ or any other regulatory filing system. Formal securities filings are made through the applicable regulatory filing system, not through this wiki.

Full disclaimer. This notice supplements, and does not replace, the full Disclaimers article. In the event of any conflict, the full Disclaimers article governs.

Read the full disclaimer →