[tech, lj] Distributing LJ

[siderea]

Ever since the Strikethrough of '07 -- actually, ever since I realized that LJ was something of an attractive nuisance of basket in which to store eggs, way back when -- I've been thinking about how one would go about turning LJ, the software, from a client/server model to a peer-to-peer model. That is, how to make LJ distributed

Comments

[merle_]

One of the other problems you have is similar to the problems with torrents: even in "peer to peer" systems there need to be trackers, aggregators, whatever you call them: central servers that will tell you where all the peers are. Each peer can keep its own cache, but there still needs to be a DNS-style way of learning when someone's journal moves servers or IP addresses.

Name allocation would be grim, too, in a distributed system. Too easy for two disconnected peers to choose the same name for themselves. Although OpenID might help with that.

[siderea]

One of the other problems you have is similar to the problems with torrents: even in "peer to peer" systems there need to be trackers, aggregators, whatever you call them: central servers that will tell you where all the peers are.

No, you don't. You don't need a central directory of email addresses, do you?

You don't need to be told where other people are. If they want you to know, they'll tell you.

But if someone wanted such a central directory, they're welcome to go build one.

[merle_]

Email only works because of DNS, which is a form of tracker system. There are thousands (millions?) of DNS servers all over the world. For every domain, one is primary, one is secondary (backup), all others simply maintain caches of domain-to-IP translations that have been requested through them. And there are thirteen (last I checked) "root" DNS servers that are a tertiary sort of backup. It really is centralized. The whole process of registering a domain is telling the root servers where the primary/secondary information sources is. Distributed authorities and caches, but central "hey, I haven't looked for this domain in ages, where is it?" forwarders.

It does look transparent, as if it is peer-to-peer. And most DNS lookups seem to be. But there are still central repositories.

[siderea]

Ah, yes, this is true. I wasn't planning on solving the DNS-is-Centralized problem, too. Seriously: do you see a plausible threat via DNS which makes avoiding it a priority?

[merle_]

You make a good point. Or, rather, your question leads to conclusions which seem to nullify my argument

[siderea]

No, either I'm completely confused as to what you're saying or we're talking past each other

[merle_]

We may just be talking past each other, or I may be replying to something you did not ask, or just going off on some weird tangent (like I never do that...).

OpenID does seem very much like DNS (albeit login-based and not site-based) these days, on review. It does seem to have evolved. But it still relies on some core of servers, which makes it not a pure peer-to-peer system (indeed, I don't think such a thing can ever exist except for very small subnets).

LJ authentication requires DNS? Not the way I use it. The computer at my IP address gets a cookie with a session token. It doesn't care what domain name I resolve to. (it does care what IP livejounal.com resolves to, but I could just use an IP address for one of their servers and bypass that

[siderea]

We may just be talking past each other, or I may be replying to something you did not ask, or just going off on some weird tangent (like I never do that...).

No, actually, I think you're just wrong. Factually incorrect. Just plain mistaken. Don't know what you're talking about.

OpenID does seem very much like DNS (albeit login-based and not site-based) these days, on review. It does seem to have evolved. But it still relies on some core of servers

No, it doesn't. Here's the URL: http://openid.net/ Get back to me when you can in anyway reference anything on that site which substantiates your repeated claim that it requires centralized core servers.

LJ authentication requires DNS? Not the way I use it.

Well, it does to precisely the same way and in the same extent that OpenID does. You're the one who brought up the insufficiency of distribution of DNS, and that is the only place it applies.

Interests and search are certainly not well implemented, but although they seem

[merle_]

No, actually, I think you're just wrong.

I apologize. Clearly my understanding of OpenID was quite sketchy.