The Podping code is so simple, yet it so elegantly replaces expensive servers that podcast hosts had to run to keep up with new podcasts with a very simple API call to the Hive blockchain (that can be run on a Raspberry Pi or $5 server).
But it goes further than that.
@brianoflondon has created a Holy Grail - a centralised point for consolidated pointer information based on a decentralised platform.
This has wide application across the internet for all sorts of peer-to-peer systems.
For example it can be used to create a central point for everyone going live on a livestream.
It can be a central point for directing people or computers to the location of information.
The same code (with very minor tweaks) can be reused for many many purposes in decentralising the internet and cutting out centralised players.
Without a centralised point to attack or control, freedom will be restored to the internet and thus to the world.
I've read this comment about 3 times and I don't quite get it.
I understand the duality of decentralization and centralized points of attacks and now decentralization is more robust. But, if you have the time, could you maybe explain like I'm a dummy what you mean by this:
Cause I don't quite get it, but I want to. What do you mean consolidated pointer? What is it pointing to or what is pointing at it, and why? Creating a central point for going live on a livestream, wouldn't that be what Vimm or Twitch is? Sorry, I was reading through the comments here and yours caught my eye so I was hoping maybe an ELI5?
Here is a more detailed explanation.
The internet was originally developed as a peer-to-peer decentralised architecture and many things on the internet including podcasting, websites and many underlying internet protocols still operate that way.
However the problem with a distributed, decentralised architecture is "How the hell do you find anything?".
It was to fulfill this need to find things that centralised search engines and later the many other centralised platforms that today dominate the online space arose.
Both people and programs need to be told where to look or where to start looking for something they need. Even when the actual content is transferred in a peer-to-peer manner, the central point is always vulnerable to control and censorship.
A practical example is Napster. People shared songs in a peer to peer manner but Napster provided the central point where people and programs looked to find the song they were looking for.
Because it was a centralised company it could be attacked and shut down.
Podcasts are peer-to-peer but people need a central place to look for the location of RSS feeds they are interested in. Many of the more popular podcast indexes such as that run by Apple are now beginning to censor content.
What is needed for podcasting and has wide applicability is a centralised point for people and programs to look for the particular type of information they want (be that a RSS feed, a livestream, a song or video or whatever) but which is on a properly decentralised platform that cannot be censored, controlled or shut down.
This is what @podping does, using Hive, very elegantly and requiring very minimal computer resources.
This changes everything.
The point re livestreaming is that it is currently all platform specific, siloed and controlled by censorious Big Tech. There is no place a person can say to the world "I am going LIVE!" in a platform independent way.
Once such a place exists then content creators can easily switch platforms from Facebook to Vimm, to 3Speak etc without being trapped in a particular centralised ecosystem. They can take their followers with them as they move to the best platform.
So the notification system is what is being decentralized, not the platforms themselves. I think I understand what you mean by a decentralized pointer now. I haven't really taken the time to look into the blogging/podcasting systems out there like RSS, and maybe I should. It'll probably help me understand podping more.
Hey, thank you for taking the time to write this out! I understand it a bit more now, even if I had to read both comments a couple times, kudos to you my dude.
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Thanks for that addition @apshamilton. That is great to know. The software actually has a much larger use case than we see here.
This really could become a central point for the decentralization of the internet.
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