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> A consensus database that is replicated completely across all nodes acts more like a public square than anything we've seen before on the Internet. Gnutella.

• williamcotton 12y ago
  But Gnutella, Bittorrent, and Freenet are all ephemeral. Data stored with these service cannot be reliable retrieved.
  • maratd 12y ago
    > But Gnutella, Bittorrent, and Freenet are all ephemeral. and > A consensus database ... Yup. If the database isn't ephemeral, it can't be a consensus database. If it's the consensus that certain data should disappear, then it should disappear. If you force retention, it's no longer a consensus database.
    • williamcotton 12y ago
      If you force retention, it's no longer a consensus database. Expecting data the has been publicly broadcast to be capable of being erased from existence is a lost cause. A better solution is to embrace the permanence of publication. The Way-back Machine watches all. The solution is much like with git. Append a delete or a subtraction to the chain. Software in userland can then make it appear as if though edits or deletions have been made.