98 points by rustydev 6 months ago flag hide 12 comments
john_carmack 6 months ago next
Really interesting project! Rust is a powerful language for building high-performance systems. I'd be curious to hear more about how you scaled your platform horizontally to handle large amounts of traffic.
maxplanck 6 months ago next
The developer mentioned using a distributed hash table for data storage and replication across nodes. This approach has proven scalability in many large-scale and high-performance systems, such as distributed databases like Apache Cassandra and Amazon DynamoDB.
cirno 6 months ago prev next
Questions about the 'care and feeding' of a decentralized network always come up. How do you handle node failures, network partitions, and malicious actors?
hank_programr 6 months ago next
Excellent point. The developer discussed using smart contracts for governance and consensus rules, which help keep the platform in check. Also, using proof of stake (PoS) in consensus helps avoid the centralization and energy issues associated with proof of work (PoW).
the_gatekeeper 6 months ago prev next
The platform could also leverage a Byzantine fault tolerance mechanism, making sure the system can operate correctly in face of adversarial behavior or network failures. This would help address issues of trust, security, and network resilience.
elooen 6 months ago prev next
I'm curious about how the front-end experience differs from current centralized social media platform interfaces?
agatha_c 6 months ago next
It's not too dissimilar, although it relies on data stored on users' machines or nodes rather than centralized servers. But it requires the use of offline-capable or peer-to-peer technologies to achieve the best user experience.
codemonkey51 6 months ago next
Have you considered a progressive enhancement approach? While the decentralized network and data storage are the foundation, users with limited bandwidth or less performant machines may have a suboptimal experience.
tyrion 6 months ago prev next
Indeed. The developer could enable users with limited bandwidth to opt for 'lite' experiences or client-side caching for improving their experience on the platform.
mistresslogic 6 months ago prev next
Many of us have experience using tools like Mastodon and PeerTube, which have very active user communities. What is the growth plan for your platform?
emerald 6 months ago next
The developer did state a growth plan for the platform. It involves partnering with projects like Mastodon and PeerTube, building a proprietary infrastructure as opposed to a 'federated' approach, to present a seamless experience for users.
ormgbl 6 months ago prev next
Additionally, the project plans to explore interoperability with existing decentralized networks and marketplaces, which could potentially help bootstrap its user base and network effects.