Nostr Web Client

Distributed means p2p. Nostr is not p2p.

It still relies on client-server architecture (not p2p).

But it does it in a "dumb server, smart client" fashion that is unique and allows for many possible configurations, and the most important feature -- it's the user that decides the topology.

To me, it is perfect, until we find a way to creating a p2p infrastructure, a thing that today does not exist (except for ham radio, that is extremely inefficient for reliable high volume data transfer).

cryptowolf 1y ago

anyone can run a relay, just like with bitcoin anyone can run a node.

its P2P.

Your client is like a wallet.

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Discussion

inventor 1y ago

Not really.

Bitcoin has this thing called "gossip protocol" that makes it easy to connect directly to other nodes.

It first connects to some sort of tracker called "seed node". It's a regular node that acts like a tracker. It will give you a list of peers so that you can connect to them directly.

The thing is, with the gossip protocol you don't need to do NAT or have your service on a public IP address. It's like magic.

Nostr does not work that way. To have a relay you need it facing the internet, otherwise other clients won't be able to connect to it.

And if you are the only person using it, that's basically the same as not having it.

cryptowolf 1y ago

Bitcoin nodes have to face the internet too. If I am the only person connecting to a Bitcoin node, thats "basically the same as not having it."

cryptowolf 1y ago

The only difference is that with Bitcoin, the node address discovery is automatic. With Nostr clients, there are defaults set by the devs, but can be customized by the user.