Tim Berners-Lee's vision for the web, or at least a key part of it, lines up quite a bit with nostr. The idea is to have different kinds of things that can be transmitted over a communication protocol—notes, profiles, relays, and more.
But there's a key difference. Tim wanted those "kinds" to be called what they are: Note, Profile, Relay, etc. The point was that anyone could create decentralized data exchanges and work together in an open way.
With nostr, it's different. Fiatjaf opted for a centralized set of numbers, which are essentially controlled by the NIPs. This approach makes things scarce by design.
The first way lets a thousand flowers bloom—developers build and innovate freely. The second approach has led to centralization that works for a small set of devs, but leaves the rest frustrated, contributing to an exodus because only a few can really get things done.
The takeaway? If you want developers to build on your system, make it permissionless from the start. Let them work in a truly decentralized way.
