Activism is critical glue for decentralized technologies, but reason isn’t obvious: tech decentralizes until the risk is tolerable for the activists. After that, paying UX penalties isn’t worth it.https://twitter.com/backus/status/1015094493836554240 …
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Operating a centralized searchable pirated MP3 server: speculatively ok in 97, immediate shutdown today Napster: maybe worth risk in 99, not today Limewire: maybe in 2002, no today Centralized BitTorrent search: maybe in 05, no today in US, TPB can manage somehow internationally
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DHT-only BitTorrent search exists (https://github.com/boramalper/magnetico …) but you pay a usability penalty compared to TPB. Napster was solid UX wise, just required more work to build. Limewire paid a usability penalty via bad search. TPB worse than in-client search since more work for user
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Decentralization always costs something. You can make it as seamless as centralized systems, but you still pay in time to build. Activists hold decentralized systems together by taking on risk so that the tech doesn’t pay further usability costs.
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Imagine BitTorrent without The Pirate Bay doing everything it can to stick around
Tor exit node operators took on real risk in the early days especially