[Freedombox-discuss] Maidsafe looks very interesting for the FreedomBox

[Rob van der Hoeven]

Hi folks,

Today I came across Maidsafe (http://maidsafe.net/)  which looks very
interesting for our FreedomBox project. Here are the features it
provides (copied from the projects website):

<snip>

The MaidSafe vision is to replace today's existing server centric and
intrusive systems with a fully distributed, safe, secure and private
network. A network with no third party being able to intercept, copy,
steal, sell or otherwise access the network’s data.

The MaidSafe platform provides a distributed network that allows
developers to create fast and secure applications of any kind. With no
API key to be purchased and no infrastructure required, developers are
not exposed to any financial risk with significantly reduced customer
acquisition costs.

No Servers
==========

    No servers = no data centers
    100% server security (there are no servers)
    Impervious to web censoring (no DNS)
    Denial of Service attacks rendered invalid via opportunistic caching
- See diagram
    Unlimited data storage with no monetary cost and no transactions

No Administrators - Only Users
==============================

    Network automatically configures and reconfigures in near real time
    Privacy and data protection via thousands of algorithms on hundreds
of nodes working in tandem
    Network decides in real time where data is stored
    Data caches close to users in real time
    Remove need for network provisioning and planning (hint, computers
are better at this than us)
    No data centers, so no data center staff

Data Management Security
========================

    Invisible to users, all data is encrypted in real time
    Real time data de-duplication, reduces amount of data stored
    Real time replication, recovery and corruption repair
    Geographic distribution of 'replicant' data (allowing mass network
outage at zero loss)
    Cryptographically secure signatures and key's ensure ownership
    Nobody has access to anyone else's data unless specifically shared

Password and Key Security
=========================

    100% protection against passwords being stolen in transit (they are
never transmitted)
    Three (minimum) distinct system areas with separate keys and IDs (no
network link between them)
    Login to system with username, pin and password
    Store, retrieve and manipulate your data with another ID
(cryptographic key set)
    Communicate with others through another ID
    For every private share, another key chain is created and shared

Share any Kind of Data
======================

    Create private shares between friends and colleagues (instantly and
securely)
    Create any number of public shares for public data (thin web sites)
    Create micro-blogging systems
    Create social networking systems
    Share anything, music, programmes, photos, even operating systems
with no size limits

Distribute Applications
=======================

    Allow enormous apps on the smallest of devices
    Share processing, storage and memory across the network,
distributing each of them automatically
    Structured data versioning allows roll back, automatic and manual
merging as appropriate to your application

</snip>

It's a big project that seems to be well engineered and GPL licensed.
Looks very interesting to me. A short video introduction can be viewed
at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdGH40oUVDY

Rob.
http://freedomboxblog.nl