@cy
> What was that non-blockchain network... Briar I think?

Briar is a neat experiment, but they've never shipped apps for anything but Android. The problem with depending on one proprietary OS ought to be obvious, Goggle's recent decision to start farming Android app devs is a good example;

https://keepandroidopen.org/

So until it's cross-platform, Briar is a fun toy, but not suitable for production use.

@soapdog

@cy
> Dunno what one would be good though

Depends on your use case/ threat model. Ask yourself questions like; who do I want to communicate with and why? Are you looking for software for an existing group/ network of people who can make and action decisions about where to communicate? Are you wanting to adopt an app to make new contacts among its current network? How sensitive are the communications? Etc, etc.

@soapdog

@cy
> I just use the Fediverse, nothing else seems worth bothering with

Same. Other than email and SMS, and occasional use of Matrix and even less often XMPP.

@soapdog

@soapdog
> the fediverse is indeed cool, but it is not the p2p I aim for

Pure P2P networks have been the holy grail of every new generation of cypherpunks since the 90s. They've never worked out. Everything that's turned out to be practical for use beyond dogfooding has some kind of supernode, and that's not even a bad thing;

https://bridgeseat.substack.com/p/in-defence-of-servers

> It is very costly to run an instance in terms of bandwidth

If you use Mastodon, sure. There are much more efficient fediverse servers.

@cy

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@cy
> gatekeeping supernodes

The option is there to be your own gatekeeper, eg with a GoToSocial instance. Most people *choose* to outsource this work. But no one is forced to.

> with no deniability

Huh?

> we're tied to one specific supernode

Not if you use Hubzilla, Streams, Forte, or other apps in theZot/Nomad branch of the 'verse.

Folks are working on FEPs for enabling other AP apps to become nomadic;

https://wedistribute.org/2024/03/activitypub-nomadic-identity/

@soapdog

(2/?)

@cy
> Also substack are Nazis so don't read them

I'm aware of the issues with SS;

https://disintermedia.net.nz/ghosting-substack/

Haven't yet had the time and spoons to republish those Bridge Seat posts so I can stop linking to SS. Hope you'll make an exception for the sake of this discussion.

(3/3)

@cyd
> Secure Scuttlebutt works just fine

It works. But with *many* limitations, which is why other devs have moved on. These include;

* can't use one ID in multiple apps/ devices
* can't delete or edit posts
* rare but unavoidable netsplits that fork your ID

> My only complaint is it uses a blockchain

As @soapdog says, it doesn't. Social apps using a blockchain have been tried;

https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Blockchain_Social_Media_Apps

AFAIK they have to sync the entire network and get bogged down by chain size.