(03:05:06 PM) trashheap: @maiki LBRY is supposed to be a a distributed indie digital library and storefront for people to share digital works. Ive been curious about it for a while, but its blockchain based not activitypub based; which has given me pause before.
(03:07:15 PM) trashheap: Part of me wants it too be a distributed itch.io and I think thats part of the equation for them. But I think theyve been mostly finding traction with youtube channel creators, based on glancing at it today.
Open questions:
It’s blockchain tech. Gotta look at carbon footprint related concerns.
It’s got an Electron UI by default, but theyve seperated out the backend code. Do other UIs exist?
Is it just for video creation? Im not sure? It doesn’t sell itself that way but looks optimized for it.
Would be cool as a froody p2p ebook / music / videogame storefront. But is it functionally any better than existing ebook / music /videogame storefronts?
I first heard about LBRY on the Destination Linux podcast. The founder of LBRY was on it, and he talked a lot about why it’s very interesting and why it’s different from YouTube.
The first thing I’d like to talk about is that LBRY is decentralized. It’s apparently reliant on a blockchain. I know nothing personally about what blockchain is or does or how it works, I just know that it makes very hard to get rid of something once it’s out there. So that’s cool.
The other thing is that LBRY isn’t beholden to megacorporate interests, so for me that means that I’m less likely to get a copyright strike! Not that I plan to use anything copyright-laden in my videos in the first place…
Another thing is that LBRY uses it’s own cryptocurrency based on that very same blockchain concept. You wager your currency whenever you publish a video. So if your video gets very popular, you’ll end up with a lot of coins. I’m not personally interested in the usage of that stuff tho. I just like the fact that, in order to post a comment, you have to expend your coinage, so it’s not a free-for-all like YouTube.
Finally, everything is open-source, so if, for some reason, LBRY were to bought up by a nasty corporation who’s only concern is violating user privacy and not caring about user security, it can be forked. At least, that’s what I gather from when I listened to the podcast.
If you’re looking for an alternative to YouTube because you hate how Google runs everything into the ground privacy-wise and commercial-wise, look no further than LBRY!
