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A typical web3 site consists of two parts: The first is the smart contract code that lives on the blockchain, which handles the tasks that a typical server back

by v64 5y ago

A typical web3 site consists of two parts: The first is the smart contract code that lives on the blockchain, which handles the tasks that a typical server backend would handle (keeping and changing state, producing outputs given certain inputs, etc). The second is a web frontend typically deployed to a decentralized service like IPFS to provide interactions with the backend contract, however this isn't the only way a web3 site can be made. You can also have the front end as something the user runs locally, or you can eschew the front end entirely, as it's also possible to programmatically interact with smart contracts directly (analogous to the command line in a way). An example of such a site would be the decentralized trading exchange Uniswap located at https://app.uniswap.org/ https://app.uniswap.org/. Rather than calling a centralized API endpoint to populate the front end, all the data is being pulled through interactions with contracts on the blockchain. Smart contracts can provide read-only data fee free, and you only have to pay to interact with the site when you're doing something that would change state.

paxys 5y ago
For the site you mentioned: - The hostname is resolved from Cloudflare's authoritative DNS nameservers - It has a TLS cert issued by Cloudflare - The backend IP resolves to Cloudflare's server range - It is a pretty standard React front end served entirely from https://app.uniswap.org https://app.uniswap.org - I can't say about the compute, but it's pretty obvious that the site isn't running on 1/5,000 the power of a Raspberry Pi for $250 a second (aka Smart Contract). So, what part of it is distributed and resilient to takedowns?
- selestify 5y ago
  The smart contract is. It's like https://xkcd.com/932/ https://xkcd.com/932/ . The static JS being served by the site is just a poster that could be hung up anywhere else. Even if that URL is taken down, your money is still safe and sound on the blockchain. You can still sign transactions and interact with the smart contracts, get your liquidity out, etc., so long as you have access to any part of the Ethereum network.
  - paxys 5y ago
    There is no money or smart contracts involved in my scenario. I just want to host a random site. Put another way – is there a use case for Web3 which doesn't involve touting Web3? What is the "killer app" for the average user who isn't obsessed with crypto/blockchain?
    - selestify 5y ago
      > I just want to host a random site. Then just do that. You're neither the kind of user nor the kind of developer who would want to use web3. > What is the "killer app" for the average user who isn't obsessed with crypto/blockchain? What's the "killer app" of Tor for the average user who isn't obsessed with privacy? Nothing. The whole point is privacy. If you're okay with clearnet tracking, then just use the clearnet. What I don't understand is this refusal to understand that there's actual value in blockchain technology for some people. I get that you don't need or want it. Why is it so hard for you to understand that others do need or want it? If you're actually curious, and not just looking to status signal, I listed the apps that I've found to be most groundbreaking here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29588151 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29588151 .
      - omnimus 5y ago
        Honestly you couldnt explain at all what could be interesting usecase and resulted to saying "its not for you". Whats killer app of TOR? Well its TOR - its pretty clear proposition even to mainstream users it will be instantly obvious - the privacy is the feature.
        selestify 5y ago
        > Honestly you couldnt explain at all what could be interesting usecase and resulted to saying "its not for you". I've explained again and again in other comments. As did the parent comment of this whole thread. It's really not that hard to understand, but there's nothing I can do if you don't want to understand. > Well its TOR - its pretty clear proposition even to mainstream users it will be instantly obvious - the privacy is the feature. Really? Have you ever met a non-technical user who said they wanted to use Tor for anything? Regardless, that's entirely besides the point. So what if a mainstream user doesn't understand why version control would be useful for their Excel sheets? The rest of us carry on using version control just fine.

by v64 5y ago

paxys 5y ago

For the site you mentioned: - The hostname is resolved from Cloudflare's authoritative DNS nameservers - It has a TLS cert issued by Cloudflare - The backend IP resolves to Cloudflare's server range - It is a pretty standard React front end served entirely from https://app.uniswap.org https://app.uniswap.org - I can't say about the compute, but it's pretty obvious that the site isn't running on 1/5,000 the power of a Raspberry Pi for $250 a second (aka Smart Contract). So, what part of it is distributed and resilient to takedowns?

selestify 5y ago
The smart contract is. It's like https://xkcd.com/932/ https://xkcd.com/932/ . The static JS being served by the site is just a poster that could be hung up anywhere else. Even if that URL is taken down, your money is still safe and sound on the blockchain. You can still sign transactions and interact with the smart contracts, get your liquidity out, etc., so long as you have access to any part of the Ethereum network.
- paxys 5y ago
  There is no money or smart contracts involved in my scenario. I just want to host a random site. Put another way – is there a use case for Web3 which doesn't involve touting Web3? What is the "killer app" for the average user who isn't obsessed with crypto/blockchain?
  - selestify 5y ago
    > I just want to host a random site. Then just do that. You're neither the kind of user nor the kind of developer who would want to use web3. > What is the "killer app" for the average user who isn't obsessed with crypto/blockchain? What's the "killer app" of Tor for the average user who isn't obsessed with privacy? Nothing. The whole point is privacy. If you're okay with clearnet tracking, then just use the clearnet. What I don't understand is this refusal to understand that there's actual value in blockchain technology for some people. I get that you don't need or want it. Why is it so hard for you to understand that others do need or want it? If you're actually curious, and not just looking to status signal, I listed the apps that I've found to be most groundbreaking here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29588151 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29588151 .
    - omnimus 5y ago
      Honestly you couldnt explain at all what could be interesting usecase and resulted to saying "its not for you". Whats killer app of TOR? Well its TOR - its pretty clear proposition even to mainstream users it will be instantly obvious - the privacy is the feature.
      - selestify 5y ago
        > Honestly you couldnt explain at all what could be interesting usecase and resulted to saying "its not for you". I've explained again and again in other comments. As did the parent comment of this whole thread. It's really not that hard to understand, but there's nothing I can do if you don't want to understand. > Well its TOR - its pretty clear proposition even to mainstream users it will be instantly obvious - the privacy is the feature. Really? Have you ever met a non-technical user who said they wanted to use Tor for anything? Regardless, that's entirely besides the point. So what if a mainstream user doesn't understand why version control would be useful for their Excel sheets? The rest of us carry on using version control just fine.