[mixermachine]

Don't get me wrong, but somebody has to operate an exit node and somehow there needs to be a consensus on the protocol + routing.

If the network is only earth bound fixed wireless, the distance might be small enough that the state comes for the operator itself... This raises the cost of running this network from just money to life threat.

Getting many open source satellites up in orbit might not be feasible.

[frrn]

Agreed that nothing is fully trustless on Earth. The point isn’t eliminating operators, it’s avoiding single points of coercion and failure. One exit can be shut down but many exits and type of networks (includong more alternative infra like the Guifi.net’s meshnetworks in Spain for example) across jurisdictions raise the cost from “call a CEO” to sustained political pressure or directly a CEO that has control over an entire network and its also a billionaire CEO with a messiah complex, far-right leanings and tendency to drug abuse.

Absolute decentralization is impossible. Reducing capture and increasing resilience is not. That’s a meaningful difference.

Said that, I’m happy with Starlink as an extra actor for a healthy mix of ISPs and networks that brings resilience.