Nexus P2P trust network - Revision history

Guaka at 09:47, 17 October 2025

2025-10-17T09:47:45Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:47, 17 October 2025
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	''This was a preliminary draft description of the'' '''Nexus P2P trust network''', mostly written in 2009.		:''This was a preliminary draft description of the'' '''Nexus P2P trust network''', mostly written in 2009.

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	I think the magic needs to happen at the moment that the profile is rendered: The system will have some rules to find those references that are relevant to the visitor, and then decorate the social network profile with this additional information.		I think the magic needs to happen at the moment that the profile is rendered: The system will have some rules to find those references that are relevant to the visitor, and then decorate the social network profile with this additional information.

	''Yes, there needs to be an algorithm that gives more weight to references by those you highly trust, somewhat less weight to references by friends of those you highly trust and so on. A reference by someone with whom there is no prior trust relationship would carry little or no weight. There are trust metrics already well-established that take into account the various paths of trust between two entities.''		''Yes, there needs to be an algorithm that gives more weight to references by those you highly trust, somewhat less weight to references by friends of those you highly trust and so on. A reference by someone with whom there is no prior trust relationship would carry little or no weight. There are [[trust metrics]] already well-established that take into account the various paths of trust between two entities.''

	''I imagined that the result of a search would be a list of candidates (along with perhaps a thumbprint picture that could be part of the identity record or obtained from the profile), a link to the profile, and a trust ranking, and maybe a display of trust paths to this person. Clicking on a link would render a profile in a browser and as you say some magic might be needed to embed the trust info into the rendering.''		''I imagined that the result of a search would be a list of candidates (along with perhaps a thumbprint picture that could be part of the identity record or obtained from the profile), a link to the profile, and a trust ranking, and maybe a display of trust paths to this person. Clicking on a link would render a profile in a browser and as you say some magic might be needed to embed the trust info into the rendering.''

Guaka: 2009

2025-10-17T09:47:32Z

2009

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:47, 17 October 2025
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	''This is a preliminary draft description of the'' '''Nexus P2P trust network'''.		''This was a preliminary draft description of the'' '''Nexus P2P trust network''', mostly written in 2009.

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	After a long search for an easily deploy-able existing solution, I did not find one and so began developing one. So far, I am the only developer working on it. I'm about half-way through.		After a long search for an easily deploy-able existing solution, I did not find one and so began developing one. So far, I am the only developer working on it. I'm about half-way through.

Guaka at 22:42, 10 December 2018

2018-12-10T22:42:41Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:42, 10 December 2018
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	The essence of a virtual identity on Nexus is the public key. It can be used to reliably connect to the real person behind the identity as long as that person keeps his private key secret. A virtual identity starts out with no reputation and must acquire one over time. This is done through a second kind of record, a ''reference record''.		The essence of a virtual identity on Nexus is the public key. It can be used to reliably connect to the real person behind the identity as long as that person keeps his private key secret. A virtual identity starts out with no reputation and must acquire one over time. This is done through a second kind of record, a ''reference record''.

	A Nexus reference record contains at least a rating code but perhaps also a text reference. It also contains the handles and public keys of the owner of the reference and the object of the reference, an expiration date, and a signature made from the owner's private key.		A Nexus reference record contains at least a rating code but perhaps also a text [[reference]]. It also contains the handles and public keys of the owner of the reference and the object of the reference, an expiration date, and a signature made from the owner's private key.

	Each record stored in Nexus has a search key (probably invisible to the end-user). A search key can have multiple records associated with it. Identity records can be retrieved with keys like ''identity:handle'', reference records with keys like ''reference-for:handle'' or ''reference-by:handle''. Several different identities might use the same handle, so a handle is only a convenient approximation to an identity. The retrieved references are matched to the correct identities using the public keys.		Each record stored in Nexus has a search key (probably invisible to the end-user). A search key can have multiple records associated with it. Identity records can be retrieved with keys like ''identity:handle'', reference records with keys like ''reference-for:handle'' or ''reference-by:handle''. Several different identities might use the same handle, so a handle is only a convenient approximation to an identity. The retrieved references are matched to the correct identities using the public keys.

Robyt: Robot: Cosmetic changes

2013-03-10T16:44:30Z

Robot: Cosmetic changes

Show changes

Lemon-head: /* References */

2009-10-21T16:06:17Z

References

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:06, 21 October 2009
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	''Typically, the results of a P2P search are displayed as they come in over some seconds or minutes. Visually on the display, that would correspond to a growing list of entities, with possibly changing values of the trust measures as the results come in. This is not like what people are used to from a central database, and is one of the reasons why P2P networks have limited popularity. Anything we can do to improve on this would help popularity.''		''Typically, the results of a P2P search are displayed as they come in over some seconds or minutes. Visually on the display, that would correspond to a growing list of entities, with possibly changing values of the trust measures as the results come in. This is not like what people are used to from a central database, and is one of the reasons why P2P networks have limited popularity. Anything we can do to improve on this would help popularity.''
			: I imagine that aggregation services will spring up for that purpose, similar to the search engines mentioned above. They will be powered by central servers and thus not be truly P2P, but at least they don't own your data.

	This means: Either the social network where you created your account needs to be aware of Nexus, or you need to view the profile information through another service that adds the Nexus information - which can be a Firefox extension, or a website.		This means: Either the social network where you created your account needs to be aware of Nexus, or you need to view the profile information through another service that adds the Nexus information - which can be a Firefox extension, or a website.

	''It might be possible to handle the rendering within the Nexus platform. (Java is known for it's vast range of libraries. There must be a rendering engine. Java can do almost anything.) Or, Nexus can fetch the html page, modify it, and then pipe it to the browser in some way. This would be a nice little piece of magic.''		''It might be possible to handle the rendering within the Nexus platform. (Java is known for it's vast range of libraries. There must be a rendering engine. Java can do almost anything.) Or, Nexus can fetch the html page, modify it, and then pipe it to the browser in some way. This would be a nice little piece of magic.''
			: Please keep in mind that this should work in internet cafés!

	There could be "reference realms", their purpose being to decide which references are relevant and which are not. In addition, these entities could offer services similar to couchsurfing's MDST. The difference being that you can switch to a different reference realm if you feel they do a bad job.		There could be "reference realms", their purpose being to decide which references are relevant and which are not. In addition, these entities could offer services similar to couchsurfing's MDST. The difference being that you can switch to a different reference realm if you feel they do a bad job.

Matrixpoint: /* Dedicated Search engines? */

2009-10-21T15:30:07Z

Dedicated Search engines?

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:30, 21 October 2009
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	If I understand right, there is nothing that would stop a bigger player (such as Google) to crawl all the records and store them on a central server, with a search index, and associated with the profile information on the social networks - if this profile information is publicly available. Maybe that is not what you intended, but this would be a possible solution for search: Have one or more services that offer search features.		If I understand right, there is nothing that would stop a bigger player (such as Google) to crawl all the records and store them on a central server, with a search index, and associated with the profile information on the social networks - if this profile information is publicly available. Maybe that is not what you intended, but this would be a possible solution for search: Have one or more services that offer search features.

	''I hadn't thought of it, but you are right.		''I hadn't thought of it, but you are right.''

	Although the 3M's talked a lot about privacy and dark nets, this particular project is for people who want to be found (up to the level of detail provided in their profile), and don't mind being the subject of references. So there's no need to protect the network even from Google. Third-party server-based searching would enhance the network, providing speed and caching, and reducing the network load. But I would want to design the network so that it ''could'' function completely independently of any third-party server.		''Although the 3M's talked a lot about privacy and dark nets, this particular project is for people who want to be found (up to the level of detail provided in their profile), and don't mind being the subject of references. So there's no need to protect the network even from Google. Third-party server-based searching would enhance the network, providing speed and caching, and reducing the network load. But I would want to design the network so that it ''could'' function completely independently of any third-party server.''

	As for persons who are sensitive about privacy, they can hide within a community. The community can create a profile which gains a reputation on the trust network based on how well they internally vouch for their own members.''		''As for persons who are sensitive about privacy, they can hide within a community. The community can create a profile which gains a reputation on the trust network based on how well they internally vouch for their own members.''

	===References===		===References===

Matrixpoint: /* References */

2009-10-21T15:03:50Z

References

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:03, 21 October 2009
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	There could be "reference realms", their purpose being to decide which references are relevant and which are not. In addition, these entities could offer services similar to couchsurfing's MDST. The difference being that you can switch to a different reference realm if you feel they do a bad job.		There could be "reference realms", their purpose being to decide which references are relevant and which are not. In addition, these entities could offer services similar to couchsurfing's MDST. The difference being that you can switch to a different reference realm if you feel they do a bad job.

	''Possibly, a whole digital eco-system could spring up around this. That's fine with me~~. Incidentally, from the beginning we've kept the possibility in mind that this trust network could grow beyond hospex into bartering, etc.; anything requiring trust~~. I like your concept of competing reference realms. I used to study genetic algorithms, and it's amazing what self-organized complexity that can spontaneously occur if you create the right kind of framework for that to happen.''		''Possibly, a whole digital eco-system could spring up around this. That's fine with me. I like your concept of competing reference realms. I used to study genetic algorithms, and it's amazing what self-organized complexity that can spontaneously occur if you create the right kind of framework for that to happen. Incidentally, from the beginning we've kept the possibility in mind that this trust network could grow beyond hospex into bartering, etc.; anything requiring trust.''

	''Great thoughts. Thanks!''		''Great thoughts. Thanks!''

Matrixpoint at 15:02, 21 October 2009

2009-10-21T15:02:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:02, 21 October 2009
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	''I hadn't thought of it, but you are right.		''I hadn't thought of it, but you are right.

	Although the 3M's talked a lot about privacy and dark nets, this particular project is for people who ''want'' to be found (up to the level of detail provided in their profile), and don't mind being the subject of references. So there's no need to protect the network even from Google. Third-party server-based searching would enhance the network, providing speed and caching, and reducing the network load. But I would want to design the network so that it ''could'' function completely independently of any third-party server.		Although the 3M's talked a lot about privacy and dark nets, this particular project is for people who want to be found (up to the level of detail provided in their profile), and don't mind being the subject of references. So there's no need to protect the network even from Google. Third-party server-based searching would enhance the network, providing speed and caching, and reducing the network load. But I would want to design the network so that it ''could'' function completely independently of any third-party server.

	As for persons who are sensitive about privacy, they can hide within a community. The community can create a profile which gains a reputation on the trust network based on how well they internally vouch for their own members.''		As for persons who are sensitive about privacy, they can hide within a community. The community can create a profile which gains a reputation on the trust network based on how well they internally vouch for their own members.''
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	I think the magic needs to happen at the moment that the profile is rendered: The system will have some rules to find those references that are relevant to the visitor, and then decorate the social network profile with this additional information.		I think the magic needs to happen at the moment that the profile is rendered: The system will have some rules to find those references that are relevant to the visitor, and then decorate the social network profile with this additional information.

			''Yes, there needs to be an algorithm that gives more weight to references by those you highly trust, somewhat less weight to references by friends of those you highly trust and so on. A reference by someone with whom there is no prior trust relationship would carry little or no weight. There are trust metrics already well-established that take into account the various paths of trust between two entities.''

			''I imagined that the result of a search would be a list of candidates (along with perhaps a thumbprint picture that could be part of the identity record or obtained from the profile), a link to the profile, and a trust ranking, and maybe a display of trust paths to this person. Clicking on a link would render a profile in a browser and as you say some magic might be needed to embed the trust info into the rendering.''

			''Typically, the results of a P2P search are displayed as they come in over some seconds or minutes. Visually on the display, that would correspond to a growing list of entities, with possibly changing values of the trust measures as the results come in. This is not like what people are used to from a central database, and is one of the reasons why P2P networks have limited popularity. Anything we can do to improve on this would help popularity.''

	This means: Either the social network where you created your account needs to be aware of Nexus, or you need to view the profile information through another service that adds the Nexus information - which can be a Firefox extension, or a website.		This means: Either the social network where you created your account needs to be aware of Nexus, or you need to view the profile information through another service that adds the Nexus information - which can be a Firefox extension, or a website.

			''It might be possible to handle the rendering within the Nexus platform. (Java is known for it's vast range of libraries. There must be a rendering engine. Java can do almost anything.) Or, Nexus can fetch the html page, modify it, and then pipe it to the browser in some way. This would be a nice little piece of magic.''

	There could be "reference realms", their purpose being to decide which references are relevant and which are not. In addition, these entities could offer services similar to couchsurfing's MDST. The difference being that you can switch to a different reference realm if you feel they do a bad job.		There could be "reference realms", their purpose being to decide which references are relevant and which are not. In addition, these entities could offer services similar to couchsurfing's MDST. The difference being that you can switch to a different reference realm if you feel they do a bad job.

			''Possibly, a whole digital eco-system could spring up around this. That's fine with me. Incidentally, from the beginning we've kept the possibility in mind that this trust network could grow beyond hospex into bartering, etc.; anything requiring trust. I like your concept of competing reference realms. I used to study genetic algorithms, and it's amazing what self-organized complexity that can spontaneously occur if you create the right kind of framework for that to happen.''

			''Great thoughts. Thanks!''

	===Conclusion===		===Conclusion===

Matrixpoint at 14:36, 21 October 2009

2009-10-21T14:36:20Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:36, 21 October 2009
Line 90:		Line 90:
	If I understand right, there is nothing that would stop a bigger player (such as Google) to crawl all the records and store them on a central server, with a search index, and associated with the profile information on the social networks - if this profile information is publicly available. Maybe that is not what you intended, but this would be a possible solution for search: Have one or more services that offer search features.		If I understand right, there is nothing that would stop a bigger player (such as Google) to crawl all the records and store them on a central server, with a search index, and associated with the profile information on the social networks - if this profile information is publicly available. Maybe that is not what you intended, but this would be a possible solution for search: Have one or more services that offer search features.

	~~=====Good point!=====~~		''I hadn't thought of it, but you are right.
	I hadn't thought of it, but you are right.

	Although the 3M's talked a lot about privacy and dark nets, this particular project is for people who ''want'' to be found (up to the level of detail provided in their profile), and don't mind being the subject of references. So there's no need to protect the network even from Google. Third-party server-based searching would enhance the network, providing speed and caching, and reducing the network load. But I would want to design the network so that it ''could'' function completely independently of any third-party server.		Although the 3M's talked a lot about privacy and dark nets, this particular project is for people who ''want'' to be found (up to the level of detail provided in their profile), and don't mind being the subject of references. So there's no need to protect the network even from Google. Third-party server-based searching would enhance the network, providing speed and caching, and reducing the network load. But I would want to design the network so that it ''could'' function completely independently of any third-party server.

	As for persons who are sensitive about privacy, they can hide within a community. The community can create a profile which gains a reputation on the trust network based on how well they internally vouch for their own members.		As for persons who are sensitive about privacy, they can hide within a community. The community can create a profile which gains a reputation on the trust network based on how well they internally vouch for their own members.''

	===References===		===References===
	If I leave a negative reference to someone, how can I be sure that it will be displayed on this person's profile? And, how can you prevent anonymous people from leaving fake negative references?		If I leave a negative reference to someone, how can I be sure that it will be displayed on this person's profile? And, how can you prevent anonymous people from leaving fake negative references?

			''A universal problem with P2P networks is that there is no guarantee that all records corresponding to a key will be found on any given attempt, especially when first connected when the DHT is only partially filled. (P2P file sharing networks take a few minutes to get up to speed). Redundancy does a lot to offset this weakness. The reliability is quite high, but not perfect. The positive side is that there is no censoring possible.''

	I think the magic needs to happen at the moment that the profile is rendered: The system will have some rules to find those references that are relevant to the visitor, and then decorate the social network profile with this additional information.		I think the magic needs to happen at the moment that the profile is rendered: The system will have some rules to find those references that are relevant to the visitor, and then decorate the social network profile with this additional information.

Matrixpoint: /* Good point! */

2009-10-21T14:27:38Z

Good point!

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:27, 21 October 2009
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	Although the 3M's talked a lot about privacy and dark nets, this particular project is for people who ''want'' to be found (up to the level of detail provided in their profile), and don't mind being the subject of references. So there's no need to protect the network even from Google. Third-party server-based searching would enhance the network, providing speed and caching, and reducing the network load. But I would want to design the network so that it ''could'' function completely independently of any third-party server.		Although the 3M's talked a lot about privacy and dark nets, this particular project is for people who ''want'' to be found (up to the level of detail provided in their profile), and don't mind being the subject of references. So there's no need to protect the network even from Google. Third-party server-based searching would enhance the network, providing speed and caching, and reducing the network load. But I would want to design the network so that it ''could'' function completely independently of any third-party server.

			As for persons who are sensitive about privacy, they can hide within a community. The community can create a profile which gains a reputation on the trust network based on how well they internally vouch for their own members.

	===References===		===References===