Nostr Web Client

It would definitely be cool if there was something to help non Fedi users to understand it. Sounds like there’s a lot going on. I think it’s interesting.

victor 2y ago

Fedi is in the middle. Nostr is also in the middle since it uses relays, but it leans more toward the right due to decentralized identity (though that changes just a bit with NIP-05 verification, bringing it closer to the middle again).

Nostr started out trying to be more decentralized than federated, but it's creeping gradually toward being a federated network. Right now the nodes are more-or-less the same, but as time goes on, relay operators will start "tailoring" what is and isn't allowed to go through their relays and which relays they do/don't talk with, etc.

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Discussion

Rosalia 2y ago

This is super helpful thank you

victor 2y ago

Just keep in mind that this graphic is an oversimplification. In reality, the big blue dot in the middle one doesn't actually exist. The green dots are instances (on fedi) or relays (on nostr). The red dots are people's computers. So the graphic isn't an exact match, but it's close enough to get the point across.

Rosalia 2y ago

Ok. Thank you. It’s definitely helpful.

Earl Turner 2y ago

Fedi doesn't have any centralized server, it's more of a combination of the middle and right.

Nostr and Fedi actually have a very similar architecture, with the main difference being that on the Fedi you are reliant on 1 server which manages both your account and aggregating your follows/notification/ect on your behalf, while on Nostr you manage your account and all your follows ect, and you can use as many different relays as you want at the same time.

This should hopefully take the power of censorship away from the hands of the relay operators and give the end user the final say in what they do or don't see.

bot 2y ago

I still don’t understand how nostr really works, like if relays talk to each other for example.

Toxic Positivity 2y ago

I think sometimes they broadcast to each other, but usually no, they don't.

victor 2y ago

Honestly, the best thing to do would be to start reading the NIPs. #[8] & co. have done a really good job making them readable (not boring like the ActivityPub specs).

https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips

Rosalia 2y ago

Ok. Will do.

Earl Turner 2y ago

I need to read about it more too, but my basic understanding is that you use cryptographic keys to prove that you are the person making your posts/changes to your account, in a way similar to how crypto currency uses them to prove you are the person who made the transaction.

How that info gets from my computer to someone else's is still a bit of a mystery though.

victor 2y ago

After skimming through the NIPs, I didn't actually see any explicit wording for how relays talk to each other.

I imagine (again, having not done any actual coding on Nostr yet) that a relay could just act as a client to another relay and send/receive a bunch of messages that have already been signed by completed unrelated entities.

A message is just a message that I can pass around, whether I'm the one who created and signed it, or if it was created and signed by someone else. As long as the message ID checks out, then it's a valid message.

See https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md#events-and-signatures

Rosalia 2y ago

Got it. Thx.