Ian Clarke Breaks Down His Vision for a Decentralized Internet

Tutorial: Building a Decentralized Internet with Freet

Step 1: Understand the Vision of Freet

• Freet is a 25-year-old nonprofit organization dedicated to creating technology that keeps the internet decentralized for hosting, launching, and funding projects.
• The vision of Freet is to create a global decentralized network where users interact with software through a small piece of software called The Freet Core.

Step 2: Learn about Freet's Architecture

• Freet operates on the concept of a distributed key-value store where data is identified by a Blake3 hash of web assembly code.
• Web assembly code wraps arbitrary data and controls data permissions, modifications, and synchronization across the network.

Step 3: Explore Freet's User Interface

• Freet Core exposes a local web proxy that allows users to access data by typing http://localhost/key in a web browser.
• The web browser interprets the data fetched from the network as a web app, enabling users to interact with the decentralized network.

Step 4: Understand Freet's Peer-to-Peer Network

• Freet utilizes a small world network where peers with similar locations are densely connected.
• Peers connect to each other based on proximity in the key space, ensuring efficient data retrieval and network connectivity.

Step 5: Implement Resource Management in Freet

• Freet peers manage resources such as upstream bandwidth, memory, storage, and CPU.
• Peers prioritize contracts and connected peers based on their value relative to the resources consumed.

Step 6: Ensure Data Consistency and Propagation

• Data modifications in contracts propagate through the network using a merge operation defined by the contract.
• The state updates propagate through the subscription tree, ensuring eventual consistency across the network.

Step 7: Control Data Storage and Eviction in Freet

• Freet operates as a least recently used cache, where data is cached based on interest and usage.
• Peers can subscribe or pin data to ensure its retention in the network, allowing users to control data storage based on importance.

Step 8: Test and Validate Freet's Implementation

• Freet uses simulations to test network behavior, scalability, and latency considerations.
• Simulated network stacks and peer interactions help validate the behavior of thousands of peers in different scenarios.

By following these steps, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of Freet's architecture, functionality, and decentralized approach to building a global network.