I'm new to Blossom, but it seems Blossom is intended for file storage, but IPFS is intended for file distribution. It seems they solve different problems. What am I missing?
Discussion
You could say that. It does not specify how distribution is done (except for the mirror capability) and leaves it in the hand of the users or the server developers.
I’m confident we will see more and different solutions for distribution but it will likely not be completely automatic since storage costs occur.
you’re saying its not for distribution? huh? aren’t most clients using it for distributing media now? what do you mean?
When I say distribution, I mean in the sense of a CDN which acts like a caching layer to quickly replicate a file all around the world to distribute the load away from the primary storage server(s); which is what IPFS is. IPFS doesn't do storage it does caching and makes distribution much more efficient.
Don't get me wrong, Blossom looks great, but afaict it's just a content addressing protocol for retrieval from storage servers.
In fact, as I write this, I'm wondering if Blossom could be used in conjunction with IPFS to get the best of both worlds. Blossom media servers would become a lot cheaper to operate if there was a caching layer in front.... Damnit I don't have time for more projects 😆
every time I've tried to load something from ipfs it has failed. clearly I didn't get the memo that its good at distribution.
Oh trust me, I'm no IPFS maxi. But yeah, it's commonly mistaken for a storage service, so people often publish files without actual actually making sure it's stored (aka pinned) on a server somewhere. As a result their files disappear from the cache and fail to load.
There are lots of examples of IPFS working great when used correctly (i.e. making sure the content is pinned somewhere). Which is where Blossom + IPFS might be interesting... Blossom media servers could pin the files and IPFS could distribute those files very efficiently.
In fact, since IPFS would take nearly 100% of the bandwidth burden, the Blossom servers could be any low cost devices self hosted at home by enthusiasts without worrying about getting DOS'd when their meme goes viral.
nostr:nprofile1qqsr9cvzwc652r4m83d86ykplrnm9dg5gwdvzzn8ameanlvut35wy3gpzdmhxw309aex2mrp0yhx5c34x5hxxmmdqyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvyzvgs2 I'd love to get your take on this. Don't want to waste my time if this sort of stuff has already been tried and failed.
I probably have a different take then most. I’ve always thought censorship resistant media is a terrible idea. It’s just asking to be abused by people posting child abuse material. If it’s truly censorship resistant then you can’t take it down. Pedos will love this.
This doesn’t answer your question, but it’s my way of saying i don’t think about this stuff because i don’t want to be involved in giving pedos better tools.
Ha, that's fair and I also agree with that take. IPFS isn't about censorship resistance though, it's about load balancing 🤷♂️
