Nostr Web Client

I love the fact that we don't have a centralized naming system/issuer for NOSTR -- keeps it free/open/flexible/censorship resistant. We've got NIP-05 which helps with more friendly names, but that ultimately outsources the problem back to DNS and the traditional domain system. This means we still inherit the points of control around ICANN and domain owners.

I think we should have a friendly username system on NOSTR which is not dependent on DNS in any way. To do this well you need to come up with a protocol/agreement for how these get issued. I should be able to show up and say "I'll take 'monkey'", for example, and as long as no one else has claimed it yet I should be able to get it.

The obvious problem is "won't all early users of such a system just name-squat on all the good names". That's usually what would happen, unless we could introduce a cost to acquiring a name. But the cost should not be paid to any centralized provider. So the concept I've been writing about I call "name-bonds". You can use the digital scarcity property of bitcoin to limit how many names someone can issue to themselves based on how much bitcoin they will bond to the name. Tie it to digital scarcity and you can make issuance more fair.

Still trying to get feedback/thinking on the high-level idea. Have you seen anything like this? Do you believe such a system could work?

Garbage nsec 10mo ago

Could just move to support resolution of https://handshake.org/ domains, you can buy one on https://www.namebase.io/ or even on namecheap if you are ok with an extension they own (namebase by contrast lets you get your own extension).

There are already systems to prevent squatting (automatic Vickrey auction for new registrations, etc.) and these work well enough. The NIP-05 system would remain the same, still pop a json same place, just allow for resolution of handshake. So it wouldn't break the design of the current NIP-05 system.

As for bitcoin there are some that at first glance seem to be like what you mean, like https://www.namecoin.org/dot-bit/ , but these actually are forks of bitcoin and don't require any bitcoin ownership, so it's the same concept as handshake more or less (another chain), but handshake is the one with traction and ease.

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Discussion

David King 10mo ago

yea, i overall like the approach of running a naming system parallel to NIP-05 versus a replacement. let people choose what they want.

i worry about the HNS airdrop schemes and an alternative proof of work network. i also don’t know how you run auctions without a centralized order book. does this mean a centralized issuers is required?

Garbage nsec 10mo ago

Also handshake for relays. The .lol domain is owned by GoDaddy (they paid for the rights to administer it). If GoDaddy decides that the nos.lol relay can't control the worst kinds of spam they can terminate the agreement for nos.lol. That relay is like a load-bearing pillar for Nostr at the moment, and that termination could happen any morning.