/[gzz]/manuscripts/pointers/article.rst
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revision 1.183 by tjl, Mon Nov 10 08:44:33 2003 UTC revision 1.184 by tjl, Mon Nov 10 08:50:54 2003 UTC
# Line 111  no central point of failure for a web pa Line 111  no central point of failure for a web pa
111  from any host with a copy. This would save bandwidth  from any host with a copy. This would save bandwidth
112  and increase availability; pages would stay online as long as  and increase availability; pages would stay online as long as
113  any user keeps a copy of them on their local harddisk.  any user keeps a copy of them on their local harddisk.
 Pages can be  
 linked using  permanent URIs  
 based on the files' cryptographic  
 hashes, as in  
 [freenet-ieee-andalso-edonkey2kurl]_.  
 However, in such a scheme,  
 web pages cannot be updated:  
 a new version of a web page would have a different hash,  
 and thus a different URI. [#update]_  
   
 .. [#update] When updating a page, it would be clearly  
    infeasible to update all pages linking to it, and thus  
    all pages linking to *them*, and thus...  
114    
115  .. XXX Mention "Name-based not possible as a suitable system  .. XXX Mention "Name-based not possible as a suitable system
116     for names doesn't exist?"     for names doesn't exist?"
117    
118    Such permanence is an important concern, as seen by the following example.
119    In 1997, NASA launched the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft
120    on a mission to Saturn. Before the launch, the mission
121    was widely criticized as a potential threat
122    to billions of human lives,
123    for its use of
124    plutonium
125    to generate electricity.
126    To facilitate the debate,
127    SpaceViews, a publication of the National Space Society,
128    published a list of links to web pages of both
129    Cassini opponents and supporters [#rtg-links]_.
130    In the year 2003,
131    only six years after the launch,
132    only 29
133    of the 83 links provided by SpaceViews continue to work.
134    Almost two thirds of the debate
135    has fallen off the Web. "If I have seen further it is by standing
136    on the shoulders of giants;" but how can we do that today,
137    if the shoulders keep rotting away?
138    The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine [waybackmachine]_
139    alleviates these concerns somewhat, but it introduces
140    a single point of failure-- and censorship-- for the *entire* Web!
141    
142    .. (cut) radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), using
143    
144    ..  Activists claim that
145        the launch of such devices poses a threat to
146        billions of human lives.
147    
148    .. [#rtg-links] ``http://www.seds.org/spaceviews/cassini/ rtgpages.html``.
149       All links dereferenced on October 27th, 2003.
150    
151    
152  We hold that to succeed, a P2P Web would need to provide  We hold that to succeed, a P2P Web would need to provide
153  the following features of filesharing systems for its users:  the following features of filesharing systems for its users:
154    
# Line 168  Distributed archivability Line 189  Distributed archivability
189      and stops publishing a page, it disappears, even if      and stops publishing a page, it disappears, even if
190      someone else has kept a copy.      someone else has kept a copy.
191    
192  There are some non-filesharing P2P systems  In a P2P Web, pages could be
193  that do offer an update mechanism. However, none of these  linked using  permanent URIs
194  provides all the above benefits of a filesharing system:  based on the files' cryptographic
195    hashes, as in
196  ...  [freenet-ieee-andalso-edonkey2kurl]_.
197    However, in such a scheme,
198  Permanence is an important concern, as seen by the following example.  web pages cannot be updated:
199  In 1997, NASA launched the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft  a new version of a web page would have a different hash,
200  on a mission to Saturn. Before the launch, the mission  and thus a different URI. [#update]_
 was widely criticized as a potential threat  
 to billions of human lives,  
 for its use of  
 plutonium  
 to generate electricity.  
 To facilitate the debate,  
 SpaceViews, a publication of the National Space Society,  
 published a list of links to web pages of both  
 Cassini opponents and supporters [#rtg-links]_.  
 In the year 2003,  
 only six years after the launch,  
 only 29  
 of the 83 links provided by SpaceViews continue to work.  
 Almost two thirds of the debate  
 has fallen off the Web. "If I have seen further it is by standing  
 on the shoulders of giants;" but how can we do that today,  
 if the shoulders keep rotting away?  
 The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine [waybackmachine]_  
 alleviates these concerns somewhat, but it introduces  
 a single point of failure-- and censorship-- for the *entire* Web!  
201    
202  .. (cut) radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), using  .. [#update] When updating a page, it would be clearly
203       infeasible to update all pages linking to it, and thus
204       all pages linking to *them*, and thus...
205    
206  ..  Activists claim that  ..  There are some non-filesharing P2P systems
207      the launch of such devices poses a threat to      that do offer an update mechanism. However, none of these
208      billions of human lives.      provides all the above benefits of a filesharing system:
209    
210  .. [#rtg-links] ``http://www.seds.org/spaceviews/cassini/ rtgpages.html``.  ...
    All links dereferenced on October 27th, 2003.  
211    
212  .. <<<We don't propose that every byte of information ever published  .. <<<We don't propose that every byte of information ever published
213     on the Web has to be kept around forever. However,     on the Web has to be kept around forever. However,

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