Open Protocols

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file distribution protocol where downloaders simultaneously upload to each other, so no central server hosts or controls the file. Content verified by hash keeps working as long as anyone seeds it, making it one of the most censorship-resistant ways to distribute large files. Availability dies when seeders disappear.

IPFS is a peer-to-peer protocol that addresses files by their content hash instead of their server location, so anyone holding a copy can serve it and tampering is detectable. It decouples publishing from any single host. Content only stays available while someone pins it, and in practice many users lean on commercial pinning services.

Mastodon is open-source social networking software built on the ActivityPub protocol, run as thousands of independent servers that talk to each other instead of one corporate platform. You can pick a server you trust or run your own. Your account still lives on a server whose admin can moderate, defederate, or shut down.

Meshtastic is an open-source project that turns cheap LoRa radios into a long-range, off-grid mesh network for encrypted text messages, with no cellular service, internet, or subscription required. It gives you communication that survives infrastructure failure and censorship. Bandwidth is tiny, text only, and range depends heavily on terrain and antenna placement.

Nostr is an open protocol for social media where your identity is a cryptographic keypair you own, and your posts are relayed by interchangeable servers instead of one company's database. No platform can delete your account or audience. Relays can still drop your notes, clients vary in quality, and losing your key means losing everything.

PeerTube is open-source video hosting software that federates over ActivityPub and shares bandwidth between viewers with peer-to-peer streaming, letting communities run their own YouTube alternative. Creators escape algorithmic feeds and arbitrary demonetization. Discovery is far weaker than YouTube, and hosting video yourself means real storage and bandwidth costs.