7 ms·

Gitstr: Send and receive Git patches over Nostr

90 points by jgilias 3y ago

jgilias 3y ago
This is not a ShowHN, as I’m not the author. I just find the concept really cool!
Karellen 3y ago
> Nostr is a decentralized network protocol for a distributed social networking system. [...] It was designed with goals of censorship-resistance in mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostr (Because the linked page doesn't describe/link to a description either, AFAICT)
- gxyt6gfy5t 3y ago
  And no token. Many token scammers try to sell their token as part of a new social network. This project doesn’t sell a token
kevinak 3y ago
This is dope! Very cool to see more Nostr applications that aren't just Twitter clones.
- throwaway420690 3y ago
  [dead]
- konart 3y ago
  https://www.nostrapps.com/ https://www.nostrapps.com/ has quite a few non-twitter clones to offer.
  - osener 3y ago
    all of these seem to be Twitter-like social apps. what am I missing?
    - konart 3y ago
      Not sure why but they focus on tab "social" by default. You can click "All Apps" in the top (or any other category)
      - osener 3y ago
        Thanks, must be a mobile issue.
RIMR 3y ago
Nostr really feels to me like the blockchain: An incredible novel solution desperately in search of a problem to solve. The engineering behind this is neat, but I have no idea why this is useful.
- pjfin123 3y ago
  Nostr is the only payment network I've ever used that lets you send payments of less than $0.10.
  - gkbrk 3y ago
    Nostr is not a payment network. You probably used Lightning instead.
    - RIMR 3y ago
      Bitcoiner "understand what you advocate for" challenge (impossible).
  - RIMR 3y ago
    Nostr really feels to me like the blockchain: Nobody that advocates for it understands what it is or how it works.
    - evbogue 3y ago
      Bitcoin uses secp256k1, Nostr uses secp256k1. I was surprised as anyone to learn that when you exchange money using Nostr clients it is not directed at the private key that you use to sign Nostr messages.
      - RIMR 3y ago
        [flagged]
        seanw444 3y ago
sureglymop 3y ago
I don't really understand Nostr. Without having your own personal relay or website, how can you publish your public key? (or without a trusted centralized authority) And if you do have a website where you publish your private key, why wouldn't you just publish your content there? How do you manage public keys you trust? Is this something a client implementation should do? What happens when all relays you write to go down? You lost all your followers? How would they learn of the new relays you write to? Doesn't really make sense in terms of free speech. Sure, you can still write/publish but if no one knows where anymore isn't that the same as having disappeared/been banned? I do understand that "nostr is just the protocol" but what makes this usable at all in practice?
- throwaway420690 3y ago
  You sign messages with your key and then publish it to any relays you want. Once your message is signed, it is good to go on any relay. You manage pubkeys you trust by signing a message with a list of pubkeys you trust, simple as that. People can learn about what relays you are on by (again) signing a message that states which relays you are publishing to. If all relays go down you just send your messages to any other relay. FYI, a signed message is just a simple json object with string of content, list of tags, time, your pubkey and a signature. “Notes and other stuff”
  - sureglymop 3y ago
    So: You sign your message and then attach the public key and push that to a relay? How would anyone reading that message know that this was actually signed by you and is your public key? There has to be a trusted exchange of the public key before or the relay could just spoof your message. Some messaging apps do a thing where you meet in person and scan the other persons QR code for example. Otherwise, you have to trust the relay. But as I understand it that is not the idea of it. Again, if you sign a message with a list of pub keys, what if the relay disappears? How do you get around that problem at all without hosting your own relay? About the relays disappearing, how will people find you on a new set of relays you choose unless they are reading from those already? Relays don't communicate with each other. Other protocols like ActivityPub ultimately have the same problem. You have to host your own mastodon server to address these things. I understand the signed message. But this is not P2P, the relay is the (untrusted) middleman. So how is that in any way different than just sending someone an email and signing it? Or publishing signed messages in any other place online? Is it about the convenience of very quickly being able to switch to another relay without a hassle?
p4bl0 3y ago
Why would anyone want to use an inefficient complicated network to send a Git patch rather than sending it over email, using Git integrated workflow? What I'm actually eagerly waiting for is GitLab instances being able to federate using ActivityPub, allowing remote forks and auto-updates, merge requests, issues opening and commenting, following users and projects… all that without having to open an account per instance. See https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/architecture/blueprints/activity_pub/index.html https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/architecture/blueprints/activity_...
shp0ngle 3y ago
is nostr some bitcoin thing? It seems it's mostly used by bitcoin people. I have no interest in bitcoin.
liftm 3y ago
Can anyone compare this to https://radicle.xyz/ https://radicle.xyz/? (Or am I wrong thinking they're similar? I've used neither.) I suppose gitstr would have the benefit that you'd already have the public key of whatever person you'd want to send the patches to? Because you learned of the existence of their repos via nostr, or so?

90 points by jgilias 3y ago

This is not a ShowHN, as I’m not the author. I just find the concept really cool!

> Nostr is a decentralized network protocol for a distributed social networking system. [...] It was designed with goals of censorship-resistance in mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostr (Because the linked page doesn't describe/link to a description either, AFAICT)

gxyt6gfy5t 3y ago
And no token. Many token scammers try to sell their token as part of a new social network. This project doesn’t sell a token

kevinak 3y ago

This is dope! Very cool to see more Nostr applications that aren't just Twitter clones.

throwaway420690 3y ago
[dead]
konart 3y ago
https://www.nostrapps.com/ https://www.nostrapps.com/ has quite a few non-twitter clones to offer.
- osener 3y ago
  all of these seem to be Twitter-like social apps. what am I missing?
  - konart 3y ago
    Not sure why but they focus on tab "social" by default. You can click "All Apps" in the top (or any other category)
    - osener 3y ago
      Thanks, must be a mobile issue.

RIMR 3y ago

Nostr really feels to me like the blockchain: An incredible novel solution desperately in search of a problem to solve. The engineering behind this is neat, but I have no idea why this is useful.

pjfin123 3y ago
Nostr is the only payment network I've ever used that lets you send payments of less than $0.10.
- gkbrk 3y ago
  Nostr is not a payment network. You probably used Lightning instead.
  - RIMR 3y ago
    Bitcoiner "understand what you advocate for" challenge (impossible).
- RIMR 3y ago
  Nostr really feels to me like the blockchain: Nobody that advocates for it understands what it is or how it works.
  - evbogue 3y ago
    Bitcoin uses secp256k1, Nostr uses secp256k1. I was surprised as anyone to learn that when you exchange money using Nostr clients it is not directed at the private key that you use to sign Nostr messages.
    - RIMR 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - seanw444 3y ago

sureglymop 3y ago

I don't really understand Nostr. Without having your own personal relay or website, how can you publish your public key? (or without a trusted centralized authority) And if you do have a website where you publish your private key, why wouldn't you just publish your content there? How do you manage public keys you trust? Is this something a client implementation should do? What happens when all relays you write to go down? You lost all your followers? How would they learn of the new relays you write to? Doesn't really make sense in terms of free speech. Sure, you can still write/publish but if no one knows where anymore isn't that the same as having disappeared/been banned? I do understand that "nostr is just the protocol" but what makes this usable at all in practice?

throwaway420690 3y ago
You sign messages with your key and then publish it to any relays you want. Once your message is signed, it is good to go on any relay. You manage pubkeys you trust by signing a message with a list of pubkeys you trust, simple as that. People can learn about what relays you are on by (again) signing a message that states which relays you are publishing to. If all relays go down you just send your messages to any other relay. FYI, a signed message is just a simple json object with string of content, list of tags, time, your pubkey and a signature. “Notes and other stuff”
- sureglymop 3y ago
  So: You sign your message and then attach the public key and push that to a relay? How would anyone reading that message know that this was actually signed by you and is your public key? There has to be a trusted exchange of the public key before or the relay could just spoof your message. Some messaging apps do a thing where you meet in person and scan the other persons QR code for example. Otherwise, you have to trust the relay. But as I understand it that is not the idea of it. Again, if you sign a message with a list of pub keys, what if the relay disappears? How do you get around that problem at all without hosting your own relay? About the relays disappearing, how will people find you on a new set of relays you choose unless they are reading from those already? Relays don't communicate with each other. Other protocols like ActivityPub ultimately have the same problem. You have to host your own mastodon server to address these things. I understand the signed message. But this is not P2P, the relay is the (untrusted) middleman. So how is that in any way different than just sending someone an email and signing it? Or publishing signed messages in any other place online? Is it about the convenience of very quickly being able to switch to another relay without a hassle?

p4bl0 3y ago

Why would anyone want to use an inefficient complicated network to send a Git patch rather than sending it over email, using Git integrated workflow? What I'm actually eagerly waiting for is GitLab instances being able to federate using ActivityPub, allowing remote forks and auto-updates, merge requests, issues opening and commenting, following users and projects… all that without having to open an account per instance. See https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/architecture/blueprints/activity_pub/index.html https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/architecture/blueprints/activity_...

shp0ngle 3y ago

is nostr some bitcoin thing? It seems it's mostly used by bitcoin people. I have no interest in bitcoin.

liftm 3y ago

Can anyone compare this to https://radicle.xyz/ https://radicle.xyz/? (Or am I wrong thinking they're similar? I've used neither.) I suppose gitstr would have the benefit that you'd already have the public key of whatever person you'd want to send the patches to? Because you learned of the existence of their repos via nostr, or so?