zlacker

Yes, the previous Freenet was experimental which led to it being quite clunky. Aside from using Rust rather than Java, the other main differences between Fred (original Freenet) and Locutus (new Freenet) are:

Functionality: Fred is analogous to a decentralized hard drive, while Locutus is analogous to a full decentralized computer.

Real-time Interaction: In Locutus users can subscribe to data and be notified immediately if it changes. This is essential for systems like instant messaging or group chat.

Programming Language: Unlike Fred, which was developed in Java, Locutus is implemented in Rust. This allows Locutus to be much more efficient, while integrating better into a wide variety of platforms (Windows, Mac, Android, MacOS, etc).

Transparent: Locutus is a drop-in replacement for the world wide web, and will be just as easy to use

Anonymity: Fred was designed with a strong focus on anonymity. In contrast, Locutus does not offer built-in anonymity, but it is designed to allow anonymizing systems to be layered on top if required.

>>sanity+(OP)
Surprising to see that strong anonymity isn't built into Freenet 2023... i always associated FreeNet with anonymity.

Would be willing to speak to these anonimizing layers? Are they difficult to use? Do they offer the same level of anonymity?

>>jszymb+46
The fred had "content filter" that sanitise content (e.g remove javascript, check pdf file for exploit)

I always thought it was a mistake.

>>sanity+(OP)
What are the goals (or at least direction) of this network, if it isn't experimental like the previous implementation? I always was under impression that Freenet was about censorship resistance in the first place, just like I2P. In the current climate that requires packet mixing, DPI resistance, and many other things that make it resilient against practical de-anonymizing attacks and blocking. (tough to pull off!)

>>jszymb+46
I think my key realization was that the more serious threat was centralization, and so the focus with the new Freenet is decentralization. Anonymity systems can be built on the new Freenet - these will likely be based on mixnets or onion routing, in fact there will likely be a variety of options. They will be easy to use, in keeping with our overall philosophy that we want grandma to be a Freenet user.

Think of the new Freenet as a decentralized global operating system, on which people can build interoperable systems to do a wide variety of things. One of these will be an anonymizing proxy.

>>orbita+W7
The new Freenet is primarily focused on decentralization rather than anonymity - however anonymizing systems (like mixnet, onion routing) can be layers on top of it as services.

Here are the key differences between new Freenet (Locutus) and old Freenet (Fred):

Functionality: Fred is analogous to a decentralized hard drive, while Locutus is analogous to a full decentralized computer.

Real-time Interaction: In Locutus users can subscribe to data and be notified immediately if it changes. This is essential for systems like instant messaging or group chat.

Programming Language: Unlike Fred, which was developed in Java, Locutus is implemented in Rust. This allows Locutus to be much more efficient, while integrating better into a wide variety of platforms (Windows, Mac, Android, MacOS, etc).

Transparent: Locutus is a drop-in replacement for the world wide web, and will be just as easy to use

Anonymity: Fred was designed with a strong focus on anonymity. In contrast, Locutus does not offer built-in anonymity, but it is designed to allow anonymizing systems to be layered on top if required.

>>j16sdi+M6
If you don’t want more privacy than what the browser gives by default, you don’t need content sanitizers.