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Fracturing P2P Networks
A reader writes: "If you run Freenet and have noticed that you practically can't access anything on the network, you are not alone; a group of Freenet users has organized a Freenet Revolt by forming a separate network running an old, proven build of Freenet, and things have been heating up on the freenet-devel mailing list with a scary declaration by project leader Ian Clarke that Freenet is a research project and has always been, which scared some list members, since Freenet has been actively promoted as a production network and has a sensitive userbase, including Chinese dissidents. Some people are already moving to similar networks like GNUnet and Entropy. " Of course, that does sound different then what has been said before.
does someone seriously believe Freenet is just a research project when it has such social ramifications?
In a couple of decades' time, when everything, such as phone, radio, television, movies, music, books, the lot, are locked up through DRM/Palladium, something like Freenet would be the anemia (sp?) of the command-and-control society companies are pushing us towards. It may well be illegal some time in the future.
If Ian Clarke claims it is anything but research, then people will start to see it in a whole new light, perhaps claiming Ian (and other developers) be held resposible for its use.
Maybe he just seeks to avoid those conflicts?
My <1000 UID is with a hot chick
Anyone find anything of interest in FreeNet? It was too slow for casual browsing, at least...
Apparently, it is easier to find all kinds of "interesting" stuff (mostly entertaining documents by crackpots) in run-of-the-mill p2p networks, such as DC. And all the feds looking for child porn distributors would do well to take a look at edonkey2000 network. DC is self-censoring, i.e. child/gay porn sharers aer kicked away from the hubs.
It's funny to see how hysterical people are about child porn, and how "underground" it is portrayed in the media. But yet relatively public networks such as edonkey has lots of the "pre-teen" material. It's not like it would take a heroic detective skills to raid some of the houses of people who are distributing it...
A standard problem with deploying systems is that as soon as there is a critical mass of users, the bulk of them want stability rather than innovation.
The solution is to have multiple parallel versions, one for the early adopters, one for the mass market, and one for the late adopters.
If this is not possible within Freenet itself (because the network exists as a single entity) then the solution is to have alternative products. It seems quite fair to have (e.g. Gnunet) providing a robust and stable product while Freenet continues to act as a research project: both needs are clear and there is no real need to compromise either of them.
Eventually the question of how to build such networks will be fully understood and the research will end and everyone will migrate to the One Network that does it best.
Until then, yay, more Freenet, and more choice!
Ceci n'est pas une signature
I'm not sure he can, but it is very easy:
A dissident is someone who disagree with someone you disagree with and a terrorist is someone disagreeing with you. In the same way, a freedomfighter is someone fighting an oppresive regime you don't like, while a rebel is someone fighting an oppresive regime you do like.
Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
# What is Freenet?
Freenet is free software designed to provide a forum where information can be published and consumed without fear of censorship. It does this by providing a completely decentralized, and robust way that people can publish and read information anonymously. Freenet grew out of a paper I wrote while still a student at Edinburgh University.
Sounds like the canary has changed its tune, eh? Now freenet is a research project, not a 'forum where information can be published and consumed without fear of censorship.' Although I always respect a developer that wants to go back and fix bugs with a system before moving to another release (or I suppose in this case, after moving to another release), the email from Ian Clarke sounds downright aggorant -- you can address points about bugs without telling someone to go use another network. I don't use freenet, so it doesn't really affect me, but I definately feel sorry for those who do/did.
I like this comment:
It is estiamted that, after digging a 100 ft well, it is possible to achieve over six kilobits of extra RAM storage at 20 kHz.
We are currently looking for distributors.
Data storage in a well!
Seriously, though, I've been thinking that something like this is the solution to the real-world problem of permanent storage. CDs die. Tapes (or their hardware) die. Harddrives die. The only way to maintain permanent storage over _long_ periods of time is to think of it like drops in an ocean: data forever moving. The net will live forever.
We need a p2p network for secure, private file storage, not sharing. Anybody know of such a project? I don't think it's freenet, nor is it kazaa. Is this a new p2p idea? Data always flowing, noone knowing what's there. Just have everyone pay N MB to store one MB of private data, then the data can be N (-1?) fold secure.
Who?
Ive been using freenet for quite a long time. And have, in the past hyped it up and distributed CDs of it and related software to people. As it stands at the moment I will not use freenet until it improves drastically. The latest builts wont retrive anything, even the common link pages. Last time i checked most site maintainers had abandened their site because the network was so sucky. Ian Clark seems to be one of the worst freenet developers. His conserns over the type of material beening distibuted seem to be one of the many reasons freenet development is not progressing as well as it should. I only hope freenet will continue and grow into something to be proud of. We all need this kind of network, if not now, in the future.
It now points to freenet's donation page.
who are those slashdot people? they swept over like Mongol-Tartars.
... of the times when I was still using freenet-project.
On IRC, they always were mobbing me because of
OpenBSD, and after two head developers, Ian Clarke
being one of them, named me a Nazi and made tail-
length comparisions, I left.
Not only this saved me from the hassle of putting
up first Java then freenet-project up on OpenBSD
and publishing the results as a service to the
general public, no it also showed me, again, that
many projects have problems with their attitude
(can't exclude MirBSD though).
They were trying to replace fproxy by a Mozilla
(full bloat version) fork with fproxy integrated
at that time. Nothing really stable...
PS: Please don't ask for the IRC logs of when They
offended me - I delete my logs daily.
My Karma isn't excellent, damn it! (And