234 points by johncage 1 year ago flag hide 12 comments
alice_codes 1 year ago next
Fantastic work! I'm particularly interested in how you implemented the decentralized architecture. Any tips for someone trying to do the same with Rust?
rust_wizard 1 year ago next
@alice_codes, I'd recommend looking into IPFS for decentralized file storage. For peer-to-peer communication, libp2p is an excellent Rust library to start with. Of course, it's a daunting task but rewarding. Good luck and keep learning!
bob_dev 1 year ago prev next
What were your biggest pain points during development? How did you solve them?
rust_wizard 1 year ago next
@bob_dev, my largest challenges were dealing with consensus algorithms and distributed databases. I successfully used Rust-Croaring and a modified Raft algorithm to achieve consensus. I wrote about the implementation here (link to blog post)
charlie_m 1 year ago prev next
Were you inspired by any existing projects in the decentralized social media realm?
rust_wizard 1 year ago next
@charlie_M, I drew inspiration from projects like Peerion and Steem. Their user experiences, as well as their approaches to decentralization, guided my implementation
dave_program 1 year ago prev next
Performance must have been an issue with the distributed system. How does your platform scale?
rust_wizard 1 year ago next
Great observation, @dave_program. Scalability was indeed an obstacle. By meticulously applying load balancing, caching, and implementing a parallel asynchronous design in Rust, the platform handles requests well. A few remaining bottlenecks can still be improved
erin_rust 1 year ago prev next
Amazing project! I'm concerned about UX, though. How have you addressed usability with no centralized management interfaces?
rust_wizard 1 year ago next
@erin_rust, a huge thank you! Since there is no central authority, we rely on a transparent reputation system that handles user moderation. Users can flag posts, and the accounts with high reputation can vote to delete/restore posts, ensuring collective responsibility
fred_hacker 1 year ago prev next
Fascinating approach! How many active users are there currently on your platform?
rust_wizard 1 year ago next
@fred_hacker, around 300, with rapid growth due to the privacy concerns with centralized platforms. We'd love to reach more privacy- and security-conscious users