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backus's profile
John Backus
John Backus
John Backus
@backus

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John Backus

@backus

Seeking alternative compression. Hopefully wrong on average. Shameless. Started @getcognito and @bloom

San Francisco, CA
Joined August 2012

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    1. John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30

      For warez Topsite FTP servers, users would race to copy files from one server to another in order to improve their share ratio. Humans were taking centralized servers and creating informal replication and redundancy.

      1 reply 2 retweets 7 likes
      Show this thread
    2. John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30

      Before decentralized protocols emerge, legal opposition suppresses centralized approaches If informal processes are essential for the system, you have a good fit for a protocol Doesn’t always happen. Many recommend VPN for file sharing, but not enough to justify formalizing

      1 reply 1 retweet 3 likes
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    3. John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30

      Even in 2013, privacy advocates recommended using Bitcoin fog to tumble coins for the sake of anonymity. Very clear informal process signaling demand for Zcash and other privacy coins.

      1 reply 3 retweets 9 likes
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    4. John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30

      Informal human processes signaling “market fit” for a decentralized protocol: • Link-only mp3 blogs → metadata-only file sharing search (Napster) • Manually maintained OpenNap server lists → Kazaa-style network topology • Manual bitcoin tumbling → privacy coins

      1 reply 3 retweets 6 likes
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    5. John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30

      Looking for crucial informal human processes is mainly valuable for answering what shouldn’t protocolized. Tons of people tried to layer I2P onto file sharing protocols (see iMule), but most didn’t actually want slower speeds for greater anonymity.

      1 reply 1 retweet 4 likes
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    6. John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30

      IMO, BitTorrent would be 10x better if a token incentivized seeding. The fact that private trackers enforce ratio requirements (upload as much as you download) doesn’t invalidate the value of a token, it validates it!https://medium.com/@jbackus/what-if-bittorrent-had-a-token-13d62a590aa7 …

      6 replies 8 retweets 34 likes
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    7. Ariel Deschapell‏ @NotASithLord Jun 30
      Replying to @backus

      There's already some good work done by Blockstream on paying for packets of data with Bitcoin payment channels. Why do you immediately jump to the assumption that some distinct stand alone token is required?

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
    8. John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30
      Replying to @NotASithLord

      Honest question before I answer: did you read the blog post?

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
    9. Ariel Deschapell‏ @NotASithLord Jun 30
      Replying to @backus

      Read it after. Question still stands.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    10. John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30
      Replying to @NotASithLord

      If you buy the "fat protocol" argument then you might view tokens as an incentive to build a system like this. Why would I spend years building this with BTC? Tokens also make it easier to experiment early on at low cost + fork your own system if you screw up

      2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
      John Backus‏ @backus Jun 30
      Replying to @backus @NotASithLord

      I also question whether it is actually simpler to build this with BTC. You could get most benefits I talk about in the article even if you couldn't cash out the token. I'm curious your take on the flip side of the question. Why use BTC instead of a token?

      10:36 PM - 30 Jun 2018
      • 1 Like
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      0 replies 0 retweets 1 like

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