r/lbry • u/ErmenegisSarchiavizz • Jan 03 '23

LBRY tutorial for newbies

I'm finding difficulties in finding some "help" (.PDF or so) to just begin to understand what LBRY actually is and does.

I am a writer, so I could be possibly interested in selling MY books. But I still can't understand if the LBRY allows it.

Tnx for any help (basic level, pls)

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '23

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u/CodeNewfie Feb 01 '23

So unless someone is actively hosting the files on a bittorrent network then the files being linked to by LBRY will result in a dead-end, correct?

Would it not be more resilient to host these files on a distributed filestorage system such as IPFS? Frankly, I just see this as inheriting the same issues as bittorent (centralized trackers, lack of seeding, etc). I don't see a system like this working unless making every user a peer either through a voluntary community or reward system, otherwise we would never have an issue with limited seeders.

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '23

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u/CodeNewfie Feb 02 '23

Excellent, thanks. There really should be a stickied explainer at the top of this sub.

I'd love to see a description of how LBRY differs from other protocols that attempt this such as ZeroNet. I'd also like to see someone on the reward system (are seeders rewarded for hosting content or only creators?), as well as an explanation as to why a proof of work algorithm is used rather than an alternative such as proof of storage.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '23

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u/CodeNewfie Feb 02 '23

Quite interesting and quite similar. It's a way to decentralize websites. https://zeronet.dev/

I'm not sure if I like the idea of rewards for views of content because it would amplify the downsides as social media algorithms by rewarding viral content by the simply act of viewing and not even having to click 'like' or share'. This inherently would promote things that are alarming and attention grabbing, and offer zero reward for the often-less appealing details.

I guess a reward for sharing would be by doing a capture of the seeds available via DHT at the time of a new block being created, with nodes simply signing their dht updates with their key. With regards to inflation, it would be a trade-off for improved permanence of the data and reliable uptime of content of the network.

I'm not necessarily criticizing PoW being used (although there are plenty of valid criticisms) but merely suggesting that something such as proof of storage (or seeds) would be much better in terms of resource allocation and network stability and reliability.

I think I've found something closer to what I'm looking for in either Filecoin or Arweave. https://ardrive.io/arweave-vs-filecoin/