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The https api is Cloudlfare DNS-over-HTTPS (it could be any other provider) - is just the best method to use in browsers, backend services can use standard DNS.

The https api is Cloudlfare DNS-over-HTTPS (it could be any other provider) - is just the best method to use in browsers, backend services can use standard DNS. Storing this stuff in DNS is what enables: - individual domain owners to adopt the standard - us to offer data free, unrestricted and unlimited forever Since DNS is massively scalable and cached it’s well suited to this IMO. Much more so than a standard API.

bawolff 5y ago
I mean, it might make sense on the backend. After all, decentralized, highly scalable, key-value store is what DNS fundamentally is, and it has a long history of working well for that use case. I just kind of assumed, the thing that's supposed to be cool here is using it in the web browser as a data storage backend for your entirely client-side app (since using dns simply as a key value store isn't particularly unique). And i don't think that usecase makes sense, since its all routed through a centralized https api translation layer anyways. > us to offer data free, unrestricted and unlimited forever Say what now? None of this is free. Half the bill is being footed by cloudflare, the other half by the domain owner. Using an api provided by someone else is not the same as offering something for free. You're not the party doing the offering.
- elliottinvent 5y ago
  > None of this is free. The data that powers this website is offered free to developers. > You're not the party doing the offering. We're offering it through our DNS zone num.net. > Half the bill is being footed by cloudflare It's correct that Cloudflare are doing a fair bit of work here, but we're a mosquito on the arse of a bull. If NUM gets broad adoption DNS resolvers might refuse to answer (or more likely refuse to cache) our answers but there's plenty of resolvers out there and if people are using NUM to fetch useful data there'll be a competitive edge to being the fastest DNS resolver to answer those queries. edit: line spacing

bawolff 5y ago

I mean, it might make sense on the backend. After all, decentralized, highly scalable, key-value store is what DNS fundamentally is, and it has a long history of working well for that use case. I just kind of assumed, the thing that's supposed to be cool here is using it in the web browser as a data storage backend for your entirely client-side app (since using dns simply as a key value store isn't particularly unique). And i don't think that usecase makes sense, since its all routed through a centralized https api translation layer anyways. > us to offer data free, unrestricted and unlimited forever Say what now? None of this is free. Half the bill is being footed by cloudflare, the other half by the domain owner. Using an api provided by someone else is not the same as offering something for free. You're not the party doing the offering.

elliottinvent 5y ago
> None of this is free. The data that powers this website is offered free to developers. > You're not the party doing the offering. We're offering it through our DNS zone num.net. > Half the bill is being footed by cloudflare It's correct that Cloudflare are doing a fair bit of work here, but we're a mosquito on the arse of a bull. If NUM gets broad adoption DNS resolvers might refuse to answer (or more likely refuse to cache) our answers but there's plenty of resolvers out there and if people are using NUM to fetch useful data there'll be a competitive edge to being the fastest DNS resolver to answer those queries. edit: line spacing