@PaulaToThePeople

1st time free-libre online presence: #ZeroNet #P2P ~2019. Technically everything I wanted: one sign-up, no instances, no self-hosting complexities, just join or run any kind of site you wanted with a couple of clicks. But so few people, & later lead developer ghosted.

2nd time: "Liberation Day" 🤪 2025. I knew I had to liberate myself from anything US-controlled as much as possible. Joined #Lemmy before I even knew Reddit boss spez was MAGA.

@wjmaggos

Opera tried it with Unite (your browser was also a web server, serving your own pages, photos, music etc)

https://www.ctrl.blog/entry/opera-unite.html

I admit, despite being a loyal Opera user then, I never really used Unite

#ZeroNet was my easiest experience at self-hosting, sharing etc &, being distributed, avoided Unite's & self-hosting's biggest flaw: your content was still up even when your own server down/off

#P2P

@happyborg @kawaiipunk

I used #ZeroNet #P2P ~2019, & it was great from the point of view of enabling users to do pretty much anything (social media, blogging, forums, chat, filesharing etc) without need for self-hosting or special tech skills. Just install & run, & you can do it all in your browser. A site you like? Click "Clone" & instantly have your own version of it!

(But there were so few people & so little content on it, & lead developer has since ghosted.)

We need something like that.

@libertyotf

IIRC the only attacks were from governments, e.g. China blocking / poisoning the nodes to prevent #Zeronet use by people inside the #GFW

But most media characterize the #DarkWeb as solely a place for wrong-doing (rather than simply "a web that requires additional software to use"), so I suppose that's a form of attack

@libertyotf

Oh, & the pros of #Zeronet #P2P vs #decentralization / #Fediverse
+ no need to pick an instance (& the research / issues that entails)
+ no worry that the instance you pick will disappear / turn heel etc
+ no need to ever migrate instances (& the complications that entails)

EDIT
+ no need for self-hosting expertise, reverse proxy, Docker containers etc

#P2Pweb #P2PSocialMedia

@libertyotf

#ZeroNet cons:
- required installing & running additional software (a barrier for many)
- very few people = very little content
- many of those people had been banned from clearnet sites for their trolling or extremism

After a few months, I "ran out" of content (in languages I could understand) & stopped using it.

Since then, the main developer has disappeared, & the forks haven't gained traction.

#P2P #P2PSocialMedia

@libertyotf

#ZeroNet pros:
+ easy to install (on Windows at least back then)
+ could browse "clearnet" (regular web) & Zeronet at same time (unlike I2P)
+ any kind of site possible (blog, social network, forum, wiki, chat room etc)
+ your Zeronet ID worked everywhere, didn't have to sign up to each site/service
+ like a site? just click "clone" button & you can have your own version of it!
+ easy to block people, including subscribe to block lists maintained by others

#P2P #P2PSocialMedia