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> That means the "servers" hosting it are distributed across a wide network. This is a strange way of saying "you're looking at this site through one centralis

> That means the "servers" hosting it are distributed across a wide network. This is a strange way of saying "you're looking at this site through one centralised server hosted at ipfs.io". Don't get me wrong, IPFS is great. I have released an application that works over IPFS. But I don't think obscuring the difference between a gateway and a node is beneficial. I think the difference needs to be highlighted front and centre, at least until we reach a point where every user is running an IPFS node without realising it.

boomlinde 8y ago
> This is a strange way of saying "you're looking at this site through one centralised server hosted at ipfs.io". No, your rephrasing is completely orthogonal to what they're saying. Both are true. Seems like dishonest nitpicking to me to say that they obscure the difference between a gateway and a node.
- notheguyouthink 8y ago
  Besides, aren't all nodes basically a gateway? Ie, a gateway is effectively just a readonly node on an accessible IP. Any node could be this if not bound the local net.
  - disiplus 8y ago
    sure, but practically probably not, because you would need a domain and a easy way to update it + a cert + thats assuming you are not behind some sort of a NAT and have your own IP.
    - boomlinde 8y ago
      You don't need a certificate and a domain to run a gateway. For a public gateway, sure, that's desirable (though not strictly required), but for a private gateway (that most nodes are probably running anyway) you really don't need any of that. At home I can just go to http://localhost:[someport]/ipfs/[somehash] http://localhost:[someport]/ipfs/[somehash]. With browser plugins you can also translate ipfs.io gateway URLs to your local gateway.
      - disiplus 8y ago
        im talking about somebody that does not run a node accessing it via "old internet", im assuming the OP has this in mind with his comment
        notheguyouthink 8y ago
        Well I was replying in the context of someone saying there is a meaningful difference to a gateway vs a node. If you access content via a gateway, your content is hosted by IPFS. The content gains all the benefits of IPFS, but you, the viewer, do not. However, if the IPFS Gateway works, ie it isn't throttling/blocked/etc, then you still get the content. I'm struggling to find a meaningful difference, is what I mean. Now if everyone accessed the content via a gateway, then sure - that undermines the point of IPFS. But a gateway isn't inherently bad, nor is it worse in most respects than a local node - at least, to my understanding.
  - boomlinde 8y ago
    I think all gateways are nodes, but a node can at least disable the gateway.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
david4096 8y ago
Thanks, yes as a community we need to address the problem of ipfs.io as a centralized DNS gateway. What happens if they don't pay their domain name registration fees? ipfs companion is worthy of mention: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ipfs-companion/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ipfs-companio... It converts ipfs.io to use your local resolver (amongst other cool things).
wefawefsdf 8y ago
what? your comment is exactly wrong.. The content is being served by many peers on the network. You find the peers through a gateway - ipfs.io is one such gateway but any peer can also act as a gateway.
- jstanley 8y ago
  When you visit the page via ipfs.io you are viewing it via the ipfs.io gateway. The ipfs.io gateway has complete power to censor content, serve malicious content, etc. You lose most of the benefits of IPFS if you browse via a gateway controlled by somebody else. You don't find peers through a gateway. A gateway is literally just an IPFS<->HTTP gateway. The gateway does all the IPFS stuff and just serves content to you over normal HTTP.

boomlinde 8y ago

> This is a strange way of saying "you're looking at this site through one centralised server hosted at ipfs.io". No, your rephrasing is completely orthogonal to what they're saying. Both are true. Seems like dishonest nitpicking to me to say that they obscure the difference between a gateway and a node.

notheguyouthink 8y ago
Besides, aren't all nodes basically a gateway? Ie, a gateway is effectively just a readonly node on an accessible IP. Any node could be this if not bound the local net.
- disiplus 8y ago
  sure, but practically probably not, because you would need a domain and a easy way to update it + a cert + thats assuming you are not behind some sort of a NAT and have your own IP.
  - boomlinde 8y ago
    You don't need a certificate and a domain to run a gateway. For a public gateway, sure, that's desirable (though not strictly required), but for a private gateway (that most nodes are probably running anyway) you really don't need any of that. At home I can just go to http://localhost:[someport]/ipfs/[somehash] http://localhost:[someport]/ipfs/[somehash]. With browser plugins you can also translate ipfs.io gateway URLs to your local gateway.
    - disiplus 8y ago
      im talking about somebody that does not run a node accessing it via "old internet", im assuming the OP has this in mind with his comment
      - notheguyouthink 8y ago
        Well I was replying in the context of someone saying there is a meaningful difference to a gateway vs a node. If you access content via a gateway, your content is hosted by IPFS. The content gains all the benefits of IPFS, but you, the viewer, do not. However, if the IPFS Gateway works, ie it isn't throttling/blocked/etc, then you still get the content. I'm struggling to find a meaningful difference, is what I mean. Now if everyone accessed the content via a gateway, then sure - that undermines the point of IPFS. But a gateway isn't inherently bad, nor is it worse in most respects than a local node - at least, to my understanding.
- boomlinde 8y ago
  I think all gateways are nodes, but a node can at least disable the gateway.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

david4096 8y ago

Thanks, yes as a community we need to address the problem of ipfs.io as a centralized DNS gateway. What happens if they don't pay their domain name registration fees? ipfs companion is worthy of mention: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ipfs-companion/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ipfs-companio... It converts ipfs.io to use your local resolver (amongst other cool things).

wefawefsdf 8y ago

what? your comment is exactly wrong.. The content is being served by many peers on the network. You find the peers through a gateway - ipfs.io is one such gateway but any peer can also act as a gateway.

jstanley 8y ago
When you visit the page via ipfs.io you are viewing it via the ipfs.io gateway. The ipfs.io gateway has complete power to censor content, serve malicious content, etc. You lose most of the benefits of IPFS if you browse via a gateway controlled by somebody else. You don't find peers through a gateway. A gateway is literally just an IPFS<->HTTP gateway. The gateway does all the IPFS stuff and just serves content to you over normal HTTP.