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Can someone give me an idiots guide to how namecoin works, and why we as consumers should care? I get that its some sort of de-centralized name server protocol,

Can someone give me an idiots guide to how namecoin works, and why we as consumers should care? I get that its some sort of de-centralized name server protocol, that uses coins to fund/drive use, but who gets paid in this value vs who doesn't eludes me. Also if I want to register a domain on top of namecoin, how do I do that? Who can even see the domain later if the dns zones haven't been accepted by all the ISPs?

SwellJoe 13y ago
Namecoin is very early in its development. As a consumer, you probably shouldn't care. Yet. But, as a software developer working in the systems management space, I care. And, as someone that has always been uncomfortable with the centralized control of the DNS system and the horribleness of most registrars, I care. Namecoin is one potential solution to the latter problem, and it's something that I need to have on my radar for the day when it may become relevant to the users of the software I work on. To answer your specific questions: Who gets paid in this value vs who doesn't? The miners who maintain the Namecoin network get paid. They validate and secure your transactions when registering domains. Right now, the cost to someone registering a domain with Namecoin is very low...a few cents to register a .bit domain. And, it is expected to remain low, as it is not an expensive network to maintain (relative to Bitcoin, for example; at least for the time being). To register a domain with Namecoin, you install a Namecoin client, and make a transaction, as documented here: http://dot-bit.org/HowToRegisterAndConfigureBitDomains http://dot-bit.org/HowToRegisterAndConfigureBitDomains You need a tiny amount of Namecoin to do this. It can be purchased with Bitcoin on many exchanges, or can be mined with Bitcoin ASIC mining equipment (it is merge-mined with Bitcoin, so it doesn't require resources to be diverted to mining Namecoin...but it also means it is not effectively mine-able with consumer hardware because a large percentage of the Bitcoin network is also working on Namecoin). As for who can see the names? Anyone who has a DNS server that has .bit information. There are a few out there: http://dot-bit.org/How_To_Browse_Bit_Domains http://dot-bit.org/How_To_Browse_Bit_Domains But, it is mostly theoretical. There's little reason for clients to configure this, and until their are lots of clients, there's little reason to have a Namecoin based domain. But, maybe that'll change. I'm tinkering with it, and will likely launch some services around it before too long, as I think it's a really cool idea. And, while the implementation has had some hiccups, it's the best we've got...and the chain hard fork a couple weeks back (to fix some problems with name registration) was successful, so we're probably on a pretty solid footing now. I, personally, find Namecoin to be one of the most interesting Bitcoin derivatives...it has a very clear purpose, and solves a problem that has been a minor thorn in every IT admin's side since the beginning of the Internet. It'll likely never see the kind of speculation that Bitcoin has seen, and that's probably a good thing. Domain names should be cheap, and responsibly used and managed by the Internet community as a whole.

SwellJoe 13y ago

Namecoin is very early in its development. As a consumer, you probably shouldn't care. Yet. But, as a software developer working in the systems management space, I care. And, as someone that has always been uncomfortable with the centralized control of the DNS system and the horribleness of most registrars, I care. Namecoin is one potential solution to the latter problem, and it's something that I need to have on my radar for the day when it may become relevant to the users of the software I work on. To answer your specific questions: Who gets paid in this value vs who doesn't? The miners who maintain the Namecoin network get paid. They validate and secure your transactions when registering domains. Right now, the cost to someone registering a domain with Namecoin is very low...a few cents to register a .bit domain. And, it is expected to remain low, as it is not an expensive network to maintain (relative to Bitcoin, for example; at least for the time being). To register a domain with Namecoin, you install a Namecoin client, and make a transaction, as documented here: http://dot-bit.org/HowToRegisterAndConfigureBitDomains http://dot-bit.org/HowToRegisterAndConfigureBitDomains You need a tiny amount of Namecoin to do this. It can be purchased with Bitcoin on many exchanges, or can be mined with Bitcoin ASIC mining equipment (it is merge-mined with Bitcoin, so it doesn't require resources to be diverted to mining Namecoin...but it also means it is not effectively mine-able with consumer hardware because a large percentage of the Bitcoin network is also working on Namecoin). As for who can see the names? Anyone who has a DNS server that has .bit information. There are a few out there: http://dot-bit.org/How_To_Browse_Bit_Domains http://dot-bit.org/How_To_Browse_Bit_Domains But, it is mostly theoretical. There's little reason for clients to configure this, and until their are lots of clients, there's little reason to have a Namecoin based domain. But, maybe that'll change. I'm tinkering with it, and will likely launch some services around it before too long, as I think it's a really cool idea. And, while the implementation has had some hiccups, it's the best we've got...and the chain hard fork a couple weeks back (to fix some problems with name registration) was successful, so we're probably on a pretty solid footing now. I, personally, find Namecoin to be one of the most interesting Bitcoin derivatives...it has a very clear purpose, and solves a problem that has been a minor thorn in every IT admin's side since the beginning of the Internet. It'll likely never see the kind of speculation that Bitcoin has seen, and that's probably a good thing. Domain names should be cheap, and responsibly used and managed by the Internet community as a whole.