Network topology.
Discussion
strictly speaking it's where there is a mix of distributed and centralized, kinda a vague concept really
the internet is decentralized, some parts are highly centralized, other parts less so, it is almost the definition of the word, because if you start from the model of star networks, how ethernet is usually structured, with switches and routers at junctions between groups of nodes, and then these LANs are connected to other LANs and then you have the high capacity trunk lines that connect most LANs together
it's precisely the strict definition of decentralized
really what it means is "without a center", like detached vs attached
I'm a firm believer that the only practical way for any protocol to have a shot at real decentralization (and not fall prey to defacto centralization via default client settings and new user onboarding pitfalls) is after a radical personal server revolution.
As long as users are _only_ running clients, the balance is always going to slip towards centralized back ends even in the most well-intentioned networks. Every user must be their own server, providing client UI code to himself. Everyone's servers connect to each other, everyone's client connects to their own single server.
we can't get inbound connections, so that part will be naturally less distributed but proxy-only network routing services with subdomains would be a thing
it's something i've been thinking about doing as a side gig, just need to set up payment rails and advertising, probably running a relay with paid write privileges alongside it would be a good vehicle for marketing it (by adding this small text to people's subscription DM messages about the service)
That would be a good start.
I do believe the "radical personal cloud VM revolution" is a requirement for the proper end state though.
Individuals having sovereign control over a single _logical machine_ spread out over arbitrary _physical machines_ both local and remote, on owned metal and demand-scaled rented redundancy services (all e2e encrypted + encrypted at rest and cryptographically owned)
well, that is cool too but i'd just start with everyone who has enough connectivity to tolerate a dozen or more other users fetching notes from their own relay cache without impacting their household connection and clients supporting this kind of outbox model more because it is so easy to capture the information, all the notes advertise these things all the time, so it's easy for clients to use it
💯