slpnix on Nostr: On a first thought, and from an Engineering point of view, #nostr architecture seems ...
On a first thought, and from an Engineering point of view, #nostr architecture seems kind of crazy, especially given it's chaotic nature:
- Clients can pick their own relays for receiving, sending and searching events (and those can be different for each action!).
- Beyond the NIPs and the WSS protocol, relays doesn't adhere to a strict set of rules. They may or may not stream from other relays, the time to store events can greatly vary from one to other (some can even rely exclusively on a in-memory storage), they can filter events arbitrarily...
But, if you go beyond the a purely Engineering perspective and think about its design within the context of human and societal behavior, the craziness starts to dissipate.
Many things in the real world are chaotic, and we empirically know they work better that way, with the Free Market being the prime example of this. Yes, it's unintuitive, leading some people to confusion and frustration, which implies a longer time to reach widespread adoption. And changes are harder to implement and settle. But we also know that, and the end of this bumpy road, there's the prize of the authentic resilience.
- Clients can pick their own relays for receiving, sending and searching events (and those can be different for each action!).
- Beyond the NIPs and the WSS protocol, relays doesn't adhere to a strict set of rules. They may or may not stream from other relays, the time to store events can greatly vary from one to other (some can even rely exclusively on a in-memory storage), they can filter events arbitrarily...
But, if you go beyond the a purely Engineering perspective and think about its design within the context of human and societal behavior, the craziness starts to dissipate.
Many things in the real world are chaotic, and we empirically know they work better that way, with the Free Market being the prime example of this. Yes, it's unintuitive, leading some people to confusion and frustration, which implies a longer time to reach widespread adoption. And changes are harder to implement and settle. But we also know that, and the end of this bumpy road, there's the prize of the authentic resilience.