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towhans | 13 years ago

I am a programmer yet still I don't get what this is. If an app wants to send JSON to another app why not use HTTP for that. DNS will take care of the routing. The only thing that seems novel to me is their use of UDP which is faster then HTTP.

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artumi-richard|13 years ago

Is it to bypass DNS? With all the moves to control the internet around, then an encrypted peer-to-peer decentralised system that can deal with any kind of data would allow for DNS-less email / websites etc etc...

Though the main point of DNS is it manages a namespace, and you wouldn't want clashes, so websites would probably have to have urls like thttp://{some 64char hash}/

(Where the h stands for telehash...

medecau|13 years ago

The use of UDP allows for "hole-punching".

User A wants to send and receive messages with user B. Both are identified only by their IP and Port pair. User B does not know of user As intentions. So user A send switch C an UDP packet asking for "hole-punching". Switch C has this service where users behind NAT routers connect and signup to be contacted when someone wants to "hole-punch" to them. Switch C sends a packet to B with info about A. B sends A a packet and Bs router is now expecting packets from A. Has soon has A sends its first packet to B its router is open for packets from B. Now both A and B can send packets to each other without C.

DNS is not yet entirely out of the loop. The main switch for telehash is telehash.org:42424

arethuza|13 years ago

Here is the bit I don't get - how do you do a lookup to get that hash?

i.e. Map from something user friendly (e.g. username) to a SHA1 hash?