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Since I recently tried Nostr, I am much less worried what goes on with Twitter and Co. Nostr is crazy cool and feels a lot like it could become the future of pu

Since I recently tried Nostr, I am much less worried what goes on with Twitter and Co. Nostr is crazy cool and feels a lot like it could become the future of publishing. I basically just started posting on the first random client I found on Google (iris.to) and ... it works: https://iris.to/npub14cxhrehjln8r4fqgc8uvatkjv5dlwzxvua2ym93wnssvs4euquqqh2cs08 https://iris.to/npub14cxhrehjln8r4fqgc8uvatkjv5dlwzxvua2ym93... No signup, no decision to make which host to use, no nothing. Just save the private key (which iris.to creates for you) and you are good to go forever. The content you post gets relayed everywhere: https://snort.social/p/npub14cxhrehjln8r4fqgc8uvatkjv5dlwzxvua2ym93wnssvs4euquqqh2cs08 https://snort.social/p/npub14cxhrehjln8r4fqgc8uvatkjv5dlwzxv... So it does not matter if the client you used changes their policies, their algorithm, deplatforms you, goes down or whatever. You can just use any other client and keep posting. And since the protocol is using websockets, one can write a client in a static html page without any server backend. And it needs surprisingly little code to do so. I really enjoyed this video of a guy writing a Nostr client in a simple html file with like 50 lines of code or so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbicnlCXg_Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbicnlCXg_Y

pavlov 3y ago
> “Just save the private key” A massive usability hurdle for any hope of mainstream adoption. People say Mastodon is hard to join because you have to pick a server. It’s on another level if you also have to pick a service to hold your private key, and you can lose your account if you don’t do this.
- JonathanBeuys 3y ago
  I just marked the key with my mouse, pressed ctrl+c, went to a text file, pressed ctrl+v and saved it. If someone is not capable of doing that, I am not sure I want to read their articles. Not sure what you are referring to with "pick a service to hold your private key". The whole point of Nostr is that you don't need any service to hold anything for you.
  - Xeoncross 3y ago
    It's actually a little more complex than that. Many people go through computers several times between moving to each new social network. You have to also A) print and store the key (yikes), B) make sure you move the file to the new computer (easy now with migration assistance) or C) make sure you are backing up your computer (a lot less people use backups than should).
    - Turing_Machine 3y ago
      How is that different from passwords, exactly? Okay, maybe you can remember the passwords for services you use on a daily basis, but I must have a couple of hundred passwords to deal with, at least. Password managers can help with the data overload, but only at the cost of introducing the same single point of failure as a private key, and arguably a less-secure one.
      - reportgunner 3y ago
        You can use the "forgot password" dialog for passwords.
      - pavlov 3y ago
        It’s not different from just a password. That’s why no service uses an unrecoverable password as the only authentication mechanism because it would be a terrible usability and security problem. Ordinary people expect to be able to reset forgotten passwords. And because people are bad at managing passwords, reasonable services try to get them to use 2FA so their accounts wouldn’t get stolen. A service that uses plain private keys has both problems.
        Turing_Machine 3y ago
        > it would be a terrible usability and security problem. Compared to, say, someone being able to compromise every account you have because you walked away from your desktop or phone while logged into email?
        3y ago
- Turing_Machine 3y ago
  > A massive usability hurdle for any hope of mainstream adoption. Compared to managing passwords, screwing around with authorization codes sent by email and/or text message, and all the other folderol associated with that model?
  - pavlov 3y ago
    All the folderol exists so that ordinary people don’t lose their accounts permanently when they inevitably forget a password. With just a private key, no such protection. Unless you take active steps to store the key safely, you’re a few Backspace key presses away from losing your account forever (or at the other end, having it stolen if you leave the key lying around).

pavlov 3y ago

> “Just save the private key” A massive usability hurdle for any hope of mainstream adoption. People say Mastodon is hard to join because you have to pick a server. It’s on another level if you also have to pick a service to hold your private key, and you can lose your account if you don’t do this.

JonathanBeuys 3y ago
I just marked the key with my mouse, pressed ctrl+c, went to a text file, pressed ctrl+v and saved it. If someone is not capable of doing that, I am not sure I want to read their articles. Not sure what you are referring to with "pick a service to hold your private key". The whole point of Nostr is that you don't need any service to hold anything for you.
- Xeoncross 3y ago
  It's actually a little more complex than that. Many people go through computers several times between moving to each new social network. You have to also A) print and store the key (yikes), B) make sure you move the file to the new computer (easy now with migration assistance) or C) make sure you are backing up your computer (a lot less people use backups than should).
  - Turing_Machine 3y ago
    How is that different from passwords, exactly? Okay, maybe you can remember the passwords for services you use on a daily basis, but I must have a couple of hundred passwords to deal with, at least. Password managers can help with the data overload, but only at the cost of introducing the same single point of failure as a private key, and arguably a less-secure one.
    - reportgunner 3y ago
      You can use the "forgot password" dialog for passwords.
    - pavlov 3y ago
      It’s not different from just a password. That’s why no service uses an unrecoverable password as the only authentication mechanism because it would be a terrible usability and security problem. Ordinary people expect to be able to reset forgotten passwords. And because people are bad at managing passwords, reasonable services try to get them to use 2FA so their accounts wouldn’t get stolen. A service that uses plain private keys has both problems.
      - Turing_Machine 3y ago
        > it would be a terrible usability and security problem. Compared to, say, someone being able to compromise every account you have because you walked away from your desktop or phone while logged into email?
      - 3y ago
Turing_Machine 3y ago
> A massive usability hurdle for any hope of mainstream adoption. Compared to managing passwords, screwing around with authorization codes sent by email and/or text message, and all the other folderol associated with that model?
- pavlov 3y ago
  All the folderol exists so that ordinary people don’t lose their accounts permanently when they inevitably forget a password. With just a private key, no such protection. Unless you take active steps to store the key safely, you’re a few Backspace key presses away from losing your account forever (or at the other end, having it stolen if you leave the key lying around).