Web3 is a new Internet, literally
Rong Chen, 3/4/2023
#Web3 aims to directly connect individuals with one another.
The Internet uses TCP/IP to connect two servers with distinct IP addresses.
That means PCs & smartphones are NOT on the Internet until they are first connected to a middleman website or cloud.
Internet Protocol - Wikipedia
The Internet Protocol (IP) provides connectionless datagram service.
The Internet is inherently decentralized because it can dynamically reroute through IP relay servers.
The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) provides connection-oriented, end-to-end service on top of IP protocol.
#Nostr endpoints are identified with personal public keys.
#Nostr relays provide connectionless services to link data publishers and consumers.
At the protocol layer, simple is beautiful.
I believe that #Nostr has the potential to become the foundational #Web3 protocol.
However, do you see what is missing in the #Nostr #Web3 picture?
Just as TCP complements IP in constructing the Internet, the connectionless #Nostr protocol calls for a connection-oriented protocol to deliver data end-to-end.
#Elastos Carrier2.0 is emerging at the right time.
#DID names are easier to use and remember than public keys.
A user may have several data vaults identified with #DID for business, social, and family use. Relays cannot guarantee data integrity & longevity.
It'd be challenging for novice users to dynamically manage Relay URLs.
It’s clear that #DID short name registration needs a blockchain, eg, the dedicated #Elastos EID chain.
Each data vault can have a list of trusted relays (promoters, propagators, social-graphs nodes), which are recorded in the blockchain ledger and cached on #Elastos SuperNodes.
We see that most #Nostr use-cases involve connecting relays in parallel.
But what if two parties have never met before, and they have no common relays?
A routing relay series from party A's vault to party B's vault may be created based on the relay ledger on the blockchain.
Finally, if the data publisher and consumer are already friends, they may want to connect directly without #Nostr relays.
Like visiting a friend’s home to borrow a book or watch a movie, #Elastos Carrier SDK enables mobile apps to access data vaults on other people’s home PCs.
#Web3 is for users to own data.
Owning data means you must have a place to store 'em, so you need data vaults, which are endpoints for #Nostr relays to connect, just like #https protocol connects browsers and websites.
I sincerely hope that Elastos and Nostr communities can work together to build a new Web3/Web5. For example, Elastos may help to automate the maintenance of relay routing tables, as well as creating personal data vaults addressable with W3C DIDs.
Summary:
Decentralized #Web3 is a new Internet, literally. It requires both connectionless and connection oriented protocols work in tandem.
