In recent years, new peer-to-peer protocols have appeared that attempt to decentralise the transmission of information over the internet. Instead of one central machine delivering information to many others, the focus has shifted to enabling all machines to serve files to one another. The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) protocol constitutes one of these attempts: a distributed file system that seeks all computing devices with the same system of files for storing and sharing.
IPFS has raised the interest of many communities, from archivists to activists. Versioning, resiliency and availability make it a useful infrastructure builder for digital archivists, while its distributed nature has enabled groups of people to circumvent censorship. For instance, the 2007 referendum website of Catalonia, which was mirrored on IPFS after the original website was shut down by the Spanish government.
IPFS has raised the interest of many communities, from archivists to activists. Versioning, resiliency and availability make it a useful infrastructure builder for digital archivists, while its distributed nature has enabled groups of people to circumvent censorship. For instance, the 2017 referendum website of Catalonia, which was mirrored on IPFS after the original website was shut down by the Spanish government.
During this workshop, we will look at the successes, the pitfalls and the potential of this protocol. We will install it, go through the basics, discuss how it differs from other P2P protocols like dat and what types of usage it enables.
