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IPFS is the Distributed Web

ipfs.io

1–10 of 286 posts

Re: IPFS is the Distributed Web

#3
Hey I have a related question: so with IPFS we all host bits of the internet, and with IPv6 our machines are all directly world-accessible, right? So how do we prevent this from turning into a huge pwn-fest? If routers aren't doing NAT and a bit of firewalling along with that, would each machine be completely responsible for its own security?

Re: IPFS is the Distributed Web

#4
post #3

Hey I have a related question: so with IPFS we all host bits of the internet, and with IPv6 our machines are all directly world-accessible, right? So how do we prevent this from turning into a huge pwn-fest? If routers aren't doing NAT and a bit of firewalling along with that, would each machine be completely responsible for its own security?

> our machines are all directly world-accessible, right

No. Nothing much will change probably. Home routers still usually block incoming ipv6 traffic unless configured otherwise.

Re: IPFS is the Distributed Web

#5
post #3

Hey I have a related question: so with IPFS we all host bits of the internet, and with IPv6 our machines are all directly world-accessible, right? So how do we prevent this from turning into a huge pwn-fest? If routers aren't doing NAT and a bit of firewalling along with that, would each machine be completely responsible for its own security?

Home routers are doing IPv6 firewalling by default, no need for NAT. NAT is strictly inferior to firewalling.

(Of course you shouldn't put things on your internet-connected network that need the firewall, just look at it as a porous defense-in-depth element, just like with IPv4)

Re: IPFS is the Distributed Web

#6
post #2

504 Gateway timeout A bit ironic :) (being distributed it shouln't be a single point of failure ;) )

It is distributed. The website should have a copy at /ipfs/QmRaS4AZriMzw9nekub7hojTnvQYsVTDqkYG7BggQsexNt (check TXT record). You just need to access it over the right protocol.

Re: IPFS is the Distributed Web

#7
If you want to tamper with content on the web, the idea that content is fingerprinted in IPFS is a huge deal.

IPNS (the name service) then becomes the vulnerability, but that is also distributed.

Re: IPFS is the Distributed Web

#8
post #6
post #2

504 Gateway timeout A bit ironic :) (being distributed it shouln't be a single point of failure ;) )

It is distributed. The website should have a copy at /ipfs/QmRaS4AZriMzw9nekub7hojTnvQYsVTDqkYG7BggQsexNt (check TXT record). You just need to access it over the right protocol.

But I thought ipfs-js would make it run today within the browser...?

Re: IPFS is the Distributed Web

#9
I worry that this is another example of throwing technology at a social and political problem.

That the current web is centralized has little to do with its technical design, and everything to do with economic and structural incentives that have made it that way.

It's tempting to say "start afresh", but we'll just be trading our current problems for a new set of problems IPFS introduces. It's a law of nature that problems are always conserved.

I would rather we do the hard work of fixing the web we've got, in particular the hard issue of how to re-decentralize it.

Re: IPFS is the Distributed Web

#10
How do hosting providers fit in here, if at all? E.g., if I want to host a website on IPFS, do I publish it from my own machine and then wait a healthy amount of time for the content to be absorbed by the ether, or is there some way I can encourage other nodes to pick it up without requiring end-users to actively seek out my fresh material?
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