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A note of caution for those unfamiliar with how IPFS works. It's very similar to BitTorrent with how content distribution happens. Your local node will broadca

A note of caution for those unfamiliar with how IPFS works. It's very similar to BitTorrent with how content distribution happens. Your local node will broadcast which content it has available (downloaded). If you access a piece of content you automatically become a host for it so you still need to use a VPN if you live in a country where you can get sued.

jacooper 3y ago
Also AFAIK if no one acceses the content for a long time, it can get lost, like torrents.
- willsoon 3y ago
  But now, I dont know why, theres a lot of IPFS pinning service I got HUGO hosting in GH and deploying in FTPS from fleek.com. It has nothing on it but it works like a charm.
TekMol 3y ago
That might be how some client(s) work, but I don't think that is how IPFS works. If you access a piece of content over ipfs.io for example, I would think you just make https requests like to every other website.
- jacooper 3y ago
  Because its using a gateway. I think if you are accessing it natively through IPFS, it will default to adding you as a peer.
  - TekMol 3y ago
    That would hold true if IPFS would be a specific application. But it is a protocol. I would not expect that the protocol specifies that a complient client shares what it downloaded. That sounds more like a choice the client developers make on their own. But I'm happy to be corrected if someone has a link to the protocol definition and it says different.
    - nightpool 3y ago
      By default, what the GP says is true. If you can point to specific popular clients that do not have that behavior by default then I think that would be more convincing than saying "Well technically there's no requirement" when it's impossible to avoid in practice without writing your own custom implementation from scratch
      - wuiheerfoj 3y ago
        Afaiu, [Lassie](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lassie/ https://github.com/filecoin-project/lassie/) is the latest and greatest of IPFS clients and it does not store/provide any data that you access
        rahimnathwani 3y ago
        AIUI Lassie uses indexers to locate content instead of using a distributed hash table (DHT). So a content identifier (CID) might be present on IPFS (and downloadable by a regular IPFS client), yet 'invisible' to Lassie. If my understanding is correct, it can't be considered a complete IPFS client. https://docs.filecoin.io/storage-provider/architecture/network-indexer/ https://docs.filecoin.io/storage-provider/architecture/netwo... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kademlia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kademlia
        wuiheerfoj 3y ago
        I think it uses indexer and saturn (which ought to fall back to the DHT if it hasn’t cached the content of a CID already). That said they have a GitHub issue tracking CIDs that are retrievable via Kubo (fka go-ipfs) that aren’t yet retrievable via Lassie - it suggests to your point that there must be some difference; it also suggests they intend for retrievability parity though, so fingers crossed!!
        rahimnathwani 3y ago
        This issue, right? https://github.com/filecoin-project/lassie/issues/136 https://github.com/filecoin-project/lassie/issues/136
  - kkielhofner 3y ago
    Yes and the many IPFS implementations (I've tried them all) consume tremendous amounts of bandwidth and require shocking levels of system resources (considering what it does fundamentally). There's an entire cottage industry of IPFS pinning and gateway providers that exist largely because of the challenges of running your own IPFS node for anything beyond casual use.
    - somat 3y ago
      Ipfs is is a neat project with a lot of interesting ideas. but, yeah, the deamon is often way too resource hungry. I would like to see a lite/embedded mode that would better run in resource constrained or casual setups.
- gkbrk 3y ago
  If you access a piece of content over ipfs.io, and you don't have your browser set up to actually do those requests over a local IPFS daemon, you are not using IPFS. You are just using a normal centralized website.
willsoon 3y ago
No, you are actually accessing the web. But you have to download using torrent, so to some extent it is true what you note.
cramjabsyn 3y ago
It depends if you run a node or are accessing via a proxy/gateway
malikNF 3y ago
I think your post needs to clarify this is true only if you use the ipfs client to access things hosted on ipfs. Accessing ipfs.io/ipfs/ doesn’t do anything you mentioned. Its just a gateway. You could take the link on the main submission. And replace ipfs.io with any (most, because some are offline) of the links here https://ipfs.github.io/public-gateway-checker/ https://ipfs.github.io/public-gateway-checker/ And it will still work.
- lordofgibbons 3y ago
  That's true, and I should have clarified that. However, is using a proxy like ipfs.io really using ipfs? If everyone did that, there's no point to using this protocol. The strength of the network comes from the fact that the content gets replicated/distributed when accessed. That doesn't happen when accessed through a proxy.
  - lgats 3y ago
    The benefit is ease of access, if content gets blocked on one mirror (ipfs.io), it may be available on another (cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/, etc)
  - Saris 3y ago
    >However, is using a proxy like ipfs.io really using ipfs? Yes! Because the gateway can go down and you can still access the content via local IPFS node or by using another gateway.
- RobotToaster 3y ago
  Tangential, but does anyone know what's happening with the JS IPFS implementation? when I tried it a while ago it seemed broken.
  - Alphatx 3y ago
    The implementation works well, but has limitations. It only works from browser to node and not browser to browser. Depending on what you are looking for it is more or less fast
Grimburger 3y ago
Using Brave it makes this very clear, the above link won't open by default without the user choosing to run a local node or use a public gateway instead. It explains the implications of both options. Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/ZP6AgPp.png https://i.imgur.com/ZP6AgPp.png
- lgats 3y ago
  Most browsers don't support the ipfs protocol and instead only use the gateway.
- evilllkint 3y ago
  I love Brave, so useful.
robbintt 3y ago
Is it recommended to run my own proxy then, and is there any boilerplate project out there? I could also use OpenVPN, but seems like I just want to proxy ipfs, not my whole connection.

jacooper 3y ago

Also AFAIK if no one acceses the content for a long time, it can get lost, like torrents.

willsoon 3y ago
But now, I dont know why, theres a lot of IPFS pinning service I got HUGO hosting in GH and deploying in FTPS from fleek.com. It has nothing on it but it works like a charm.

TekMol 3y ago

That might be how some client(s) work, but I don't think that is how IPFS works. If you access a piece of content over ipfs.io for example, I would think you just make https requests like to every other website.

jacooper 3y ago
Because its using a gateway. I think if you are accessing it natively through IPFS, it will default to adding you as a peer.
- TekMol 3y ago
  That would hold true if IPFS would be a specific application. But it is a protocol. I would not expect that the protocol specifies that a complient client shares what it downloaded. That sounds more like a choice the client developers make on their own. But I'm happy to be corrected if someone has a link to the protocol definition and it says different.
  - nightpool 3y ago
    By default, what the GP says is true. If you can point to specific popular clients that do not have that behavior by default then I think that would be more convincing than saying "Well technically there's no requirement" when it's impossible to avoid in practice without writing your own custom implementation from scratch
    - wuiheerfoj 3y ago
      Afaiu, [Lassie](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lassie/ https://github.com/filecoin-project/lassie/) is the latest and greatest of IPFS clients and it does not store/provide any data that you access
      - rahimnathwani 3y ago
        AIUI Lassie uses indexers to locate content instead of using a distributed hash table (DHT). So a content identifier (CID) might be present on IPFS (and downloadable by a regular IPFS client), yet 'invisible' to Lassie. If my understanding is correct, it can't be considered a complete IPFS client. https://docs.filecoin.io/storage-provider/architecture/network-indexer/ https://docs.filecoin.io/storage-provider/architecture/netwo... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kademlia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kademlia
        wuiheerfoj 3y ago
        I think it uses indexer and saturn (which ought to fall back to the DHT if it hasn’t cached the content of a CID already). That said they have a GitHub issue tracking CIDs that are retrievable via Kubo (fka go-ipfs) that aren’t yet retrievable via Lassie - it suggests to your point that there must be some difference; it also suggests they intend for retrievability parity though, so fingers crossed!!
        rahimnathwani 3y ago
        This issue, right? https://github.com/filecoin-project/lassie/issues/136 https://github.com/filecoin-project/lassie/issues/136
- kkielhofner 3y ago
  Yes and the many IPFS implementations (I've tried them all) consume tremendous amounts of bandwidth and require shocking levels of system resources (considering what it does fundamentally). There's an entire cottage industry of IPFS pinning and gateway providers that exist largely because of the challenges of running your own IPFS node for anything beyond casual use.
  - somat 3y ago
    Ipfs is is a neat project with a lot of interesting ideas. but, yeah, the deamon is often way too resource hungry. I would like to see a lite/embedded mode that would better run in resource constrained or casual setups.
gkbrk 3y ago
If you access a piece of content over ipfs.io, and you don't have your browser set up to actually do those requests over a local IPFS daemon, you are not using IPFS. You are just using a normal centralized website.

willsoon 3y ago

No, you are actually accessing the web. But you have to download using torrent, so to some extent it is true what you note.

cramjabsyn 3y ago

It depends if you run a node or are accessing via a proxy/gateway

malikNF 3y ago

I think your post needs to clarify this is true only if you use the ipfs client to access things hosted on ipfs. Accessing ipfs.io/ipfs/ doesn’t do anything you mentioned. Its just a gateway. You could take the link on the main submission. And replace ipfs.io with any (most, because some are offline) of the links here https://ipfs.github.io/public-gateway-checker/ https://ipfs.github.io/public-gateway-checker/ And it will still work.

lordofgibbons 3y ago
That's true, and I should have clarified that. However, is using a proxy like ipfs.io really using ipfs? If everyone did that, there's no point to using this protocol. The strength of the network comes from the fact that the content gets replicated/distributed when accessed. That doesn't happen when accessed through a proxy.
- lgats 3y ago
  The benefit is ease of access, if content gets blocked on one mirror (ipfs.io), it may be available on another (cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/, etc)
- Saris 3y ago
  >However, is using a proxy like ipfs.io really using ipfs? Yes! Because the gateway can go down and you can still access the content via local IPFS node or by using another gateway.
RobotToaster 3y ago
Tangential, but does anyone know what's happening with the JS IPFS implementation? when I tried it a while ago it seemed broken.
- Alphatx 3y ago
  The implementation works well, but has limitations. It only works from browser to node and not browser to browser. Depending on what you are looking for it is more or less fast

Grimburger 3y ago

Using Brave it makes this very clear, the above link won't open by default without the user choosing to run a local node or use a public gateway instead. It explains the implications of both options. Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/ZP6AgPp.png https://i.imgur.com/ZP6AgPp.png

lgats 3y ago
Most browsers don't support the ipfs protocol and instead only use the gateway.
evilllkint 3y ago
I love Brave, so useful.

robbintt 3y ago

Is it recommended to run my own proxy then, and is there any boilerplate project out there? I could also use OpenVPN, but seems like I just want to proxy ipfs, not my whole connection.