[HN Gopher] Shelter Protocol: End-to-end encrypted, federated, u...
___________________________________________________________________
Shelter Protocol: End-to-end encrypted, federated, user-friendly
web apps
Author : gslepak
Score : 56 points
Date : 2023-07-20 18:13 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (shelterprotocol.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (shelterprotocol.net)
| icouldntresist wrote:
| [flagged]
| lesona wrote:
| Off topic - is this webpage impossible to back-button out of
| without double-clicking? I really, really hate that.
| gslepak wrote:
| Hmm, thanks for pointing that out! It also bothers me. I think
| the offending line in our docs template is here:
| https://github.com/okTurtles/shelterprotocol.net/blob/master...
|
| We'll look into fixing this!
|
| EDIT: should be fixed!
| mdaniel wrote:
| > This virtual machine defines operations ("op codes") for
| managing keys, defining so-called "smart contracts" (computer
| programs), and performing both encrypted and unencrypted actions.
|
| I suspected that was going to be in there
| rand846633 wrote:
| You suspected you would find cryptographic primitives in a
| system that deals with privacy?
| tptacek wrote:
| I think the subtext is that this is blockchain-y.
| api wrote:
| There's nothing inherently wrong with a block chain. It's a
| cryptographically immutable linked list. Anti-buzzwords can
| be as shallow as buzzwords.
|
| With the exception of the inefficiency of proof of work,
| nearly all the problems with cryptocurrency are human
| problems related to the toxicity of the ecosystem rather
| than intrinsic issues with the tech. Code doesn't scam
| people. People scam people.
| slawton3 wrote:
| I'll never understand the undeserved hate that blockchain
| tech gets. I understand that some people automatically
| associate blockchain with crypto scams, but fundamentally
| the tech is inspiring.
| klabb3 wrote:
| I thought the same but I really do understand the "hate"
| now. In fact, as someone who sees a lot of potential in
| the tech, there's even more reasons to be upset.
| "Blockchain" and even "crypto" are terms that became
| synonymous with opportunistic speculation at best, and
| scams and frauds at worst.
|
| And honestly, the vast majority of people on the
| "inside", i.e. those actually working with it, were
| opportunists as well. Most of them saw the tech narrowly
| as an unregulated financial instrument.
| itsanaccount wrote:
| because all the people working on blockchain-esque
| systems never seem to grasp societal trust boundaries.
|
| its like theres no amount of Adam Curtis documentaries
| that will shake silicon valley folks from the myth that
| the computer will lead to a better, more equal society.
|
| you cant compute yourself out of a broken world.
| emurlin wrote:
| > you cant compute yourself out of a broken world.
|
| Most certainly not, but surely you can build better tools
| with the aspiration of facilitating certain goals, can't
| you? It's not the tools in or by themselves that will
| improve (or worsen) the world, rather something at your
| disposal to pursue your goals.
|
| > the myth that the computer will lead to a better, more
| equal society
|
| Agreed that it won't. But, IMO, the strength of Shelter
| is that it covers a niche that many other systems
| (blockchain-y or otherwise) don't, which is data autonomy
| and confidentiality. Most popular web apps today are
| centralised silos that don't give you privacy from the
| operator, and those that aim for federation often also
| don't give you much privacy either.
|
| Now, it can be that those factors are not important for
| the specific thing you're developing, and that's fine.
| But, if they are, having an existing framework to build
| on top of can give you a head start (even indirectly, by
| showing you what works or doesn't).
|
| Disclaimer: I'm involved in the development of Shelter.
| All opinions are my own.
| jazzyjackson wrote:
| This is unnecessarily defeatist. You can make
| improvements to a broken world, including new frameworks
| for compute that removes dependency on billionaire data
| brokers.
|
| As an Adam Curtis fan (for all his faults), I don't
| believe technology is neutral nor that progress is
| teleologic. I do believe that people could be better
| served that software that works in their interests
| instead of against them.
|
| And funny you mention a broken world, as if we're doomed
| to be excluded from the paradise of eden, the very first
| walled garden. Those of us working on distributed
| applications are trying to make walled gardens obsolete,
| no forgiveness required :)
| itsanaccount wrote:
| those of you working on distributed applications are
| trying to transfer power from current tech companies to
| new tech companies.
|
| thats it. thats all it is. all the madness about
| cryptography replacing trust just makes that power more
| concentrated.
| jazzyjackson wrote:
| I'm inspired by alternate modes of data storage and
| compute, and blockchain gets points for popularizing
| public key pairs as a means of committing transactions,
| but I totally understand the hate: whenever a tool is
| invented, it makes certain things easier than they used
| to be, sometimes unintentionally. Merkle trees make
| verifying data integrity fast, and proof of work was
| invented to make sending spam emails slow. The two
| combined with a money-metaphor makes spinning up pyramid
| schemes zero marginal cost. Whether or not you're on
| board with Mr Nakamoto's banking critiques, the result of
| the technology has been a tidal wave of thin schemes
| defrauding hopeful and desperate people, while adding
| little value outside of that world.
| JohnFen wrote:
| I don't hate blockchain, but I also don't see much use
| for it that isn't better accomplished through other
| means. So I guess I'm just not inspired by the tech.
| [deleted]
| jazzyjackson wrote:
| Hey greg! Glad to see the recording of the D'Web presentation
| made it online [0], "Most of today's web apps have privacy
| settings, but none of those privacy settings are real. We didn't
| want to be one of those companies that gave our users privacy
| settings, and effectively be lying to our users" is a great
| problem statement.
|
| For the blockchain skeptics, good news, it's not a blockchain:
| it's a distributed virtual machine without waste-heat-enforced-
| global-consensus. Of course it's much faster to see "smart
| contract" and hit the back button than investigate a new way of
| doing things so Shelter has their work cut out for them.
|
| [0] https://youtu.be/PKjwUagTq-U
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2023-07-20 23:01 UTC)