- From: Lucas Gonze <lucas@gonze.com>
- Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:16:46 -0400
I wonder if there is a consensus to form a group or mailing list specifically for discussing decentralization (a.k.a P2P). I see this as a followup to the issues raised at Twist 2000. For example: * Is decentralization ever a good idea? If so, when? Is there non-anecdotal evidence of costs and benefits? * What protocol issues are there? Can we begin assembling a good protocol for decentralized messaging? To what degree do the protocols for Freenet, Gnutella or WorldOS meet the need (and how do they fail)? Do we need an application protocol or something lower level? Can HTTP do the job? Can we implement peer routing as an add-on to existing protocols? Is there a call to develop an IETF working group? * Given that authoring and versioning are critical but hard in a decentralized environment, how can we approach the job? Is it possible to integrate WebDAV with peer networking? * What are the business issues? Who are the players? Who else stands to win or lose, and why? At present many people and groups are working on the issues in isolation, some for competitive reasons and others for lack of an alternative. My belief is that a communal approach will be more productive. In hope that there will be interest, I have created a list accessible at http://www.egroups.com/group/decentralization. - Lucas Gonze
Received on Monday, 17 July 2000 15:27:19 UTC