Could a Blockchain based file system be the answer!
In regards to the old media that needs to be digitized and stored for posterity, if there was a blockchain based file system, in conjunction with a crypto-currency token, I’m thinking that something like that could create a permanent and immutable storage-space, where all software is archived, and available for all time (or as long as computers are still a thing). If anyone has ideas or experience in working with blockchain code and building upon it, I believe that something like this could ensure that software doesn’t “disappear” again. Because even if someone had a server with copies of all of the old software, it still ends up as a single point of failure, if that machine gets wiped/hacked/etc. But having that same data-store on a distributed blockchain based file system, there no longer is that single point of failure. Even more robust than storing it on Google’s or Amazon’s storage. Yes, I know there are literally thousands of various crypto currencies out there, and if not marketed right, it could potentially fall by the wayside. The way I see this working on the file system level is that people will allocate a portion of their hard drive storage to the project. The people who allocated storage would be compensated over time with the crypto currency of the project. It would be an encrypted and possibly sandboxed storage subsystem, to prevent malicious software from affecting their machines. There may also be compensation when that data is accessed, regardless of if it’s a read or write. There would be multiple, identical copies of the various data spread across all of the machines in the network. That way if a machine is down, there are other sources for the file. This is really a rough idea at this point and likely needs significant “polishing” before the project is even to the starting gate. If there’s interest in pursuing a project like this, email me off list, and we’ll coordinate and communicate on either a different email list or some other platform. Thanks, Joe O. -- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?
If there’s interest in pursuing a project like this, email me off list, and we’ll coordinate and communicate on either a different email list or some other platform.
I suggest talking to Jason Scott before doing anything. Internet Archive may be several steps ahead.
Sounds like a torrent to me... On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:49 AM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
If there’s interest in pursuing a project like this, email me off list, and
we’ll coordinate and communicate on either a different email list or some other platform.
I suggest talking to Jason Scott before doing anything. Internet Archive may be several steps ahead.
Well, unlike “torrents” which utilizes distributed files, it’s not really a file system. Because the users each determines which files they are hosting at any one time. It’s possible that some of the torrent code could be used for file system management, rather than building everything from scratch. There’s actually one crypto-currency Network I just read about briefly, that seems to work similar to what I’m thinking, it’s possible that it could be used as well, but I’d need to look into it a bit more. If it’s something that could work, we may have an almost pre-built solution. Evan, I’ll check with Jason at Archive.org, they may be interested in pursuing this as well. I’ve communicated with him before in regards to some other things, which at the time they said they were not going to pursue, but now look at all of the emulated machines when going through their software library. (Shrug) On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 11:24 AM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
Sounds like a torrent to me...
On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:49 AM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
If there’s interest in pursuing a project like this, email me off list,
and
we’ll coordinate and communicate on either a different email list or some other platform.
I suggest talking to Jason Scott before doing anything. Internet Archive may be several steps ahead.
-- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?
There are currently at least 3 blockchain based distributed file systems. IPFS (Inter-Planetary File System), FileCoin, and Storj. I’ll have to read through the white papers and technical specs. And really need to determine if there are any specific needs we would need to address in regards to the various data types we’d be storing, or features that would be needed for the various needs of vintage computer software and documentation storage. On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 12:04 PM Joseph Oprysko <joprysko1@gmail.com> wrote:
Well, unlike “torrents” which utilizes distributed files, it’s not really a file system. Because the users each determines which files they are hosting at any one time. It’s possible that some of the torrent code could be used for file system management, rather than building everything from scratch.
There’s actually one crypto-currency Network I just read about briefly, that seems to work similar to what I’m thinking, it’s possible that it could be used as well, but I’d need to look into it a bit more. If it’s something that could work, we may have an almost pre-built solution.
Evan, I’ll check with Jason at Archive.org, they may be interested in pursuing this as well. I’ve communicated with him before in regards to some other things, which at the time they said they were not going to pursue, but now look at all of the emulated machines when going through their software library. (Shrug)
On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 11:24 AM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
Sounds like a torrent to me...
On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 10:49 AM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
If there’s interest in pursuing a project like this, email me off list,
and
we’ll coordinate and communicate on either a different email list or some other platform.
I suggest talking to Jason Scott before doing anything. Internet Archive may be several steps ahead.
-- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?
-- Normal Person: Hey, it seems that you know a lot. Geek: To be honest, it's due to all the surfing I do. Normal Person: So you go surfing? Normal Person: But I don't think that has anything to do with knowing a lot... Geek: I think that's wrong on a fundamental level. Normal Person: Huh? Huh? What?
participants (3)
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Evan Koblentz -
Joseph Oprysko -
jsalzman＠gmail.com