So, Dave Jones is very rightfully fuming at a proud slop peddler, and I’ll just let him do the talking from this point.
So I don’t have a comment about the video, which I’m now watching, but what’s the general consensus on Odysee? Just on a cursory scan, it’s looks pretty cool. What’s their story?
Edit after watching the video: Fuuuuucccckkk!
Basically it’s a freer YT alternative, it’s also decentralized in the back-end as it’s blockchain-based, which might understandably turn some people off, but they’re still better than YT for now.
PeerTube is preferable though as it’s fully decentralized and not just on the back-end, and self-hostable, using ActivityPub and WebRTC to function on.
As for Odysee, to directly quote them on what their platform is:
Odysee is a blockchain-based media platform. We host all kinds of media such as images, articles, PDFs, audio files, etc., but we’re best known for hosting videos.
Odysee seeks to recapture the spirit of the early 2000s era internet. Rather than favouring corporate content such as late night talk shows, network television, and TV news, Odysee is a place for everyone, including independent creators.
Referring to Odysee as “blockchain-based” isn’t just sloganeering. All content on Odysee is hosted on blockchain technology, which Odysee then pulls from. For those interested in blockchain, this is really cool. For those who don’t know a thing about blockchain, that’s totally fine because Odysee requires zero blockchain knowledge to use.
I’m not sure what being ‘blockchain-based’ is even for in the context of hosting videos etc. Seems to me like a solution looking for a problem. Can you explain?
Also, I checked out Peertube, and it looks promising, but lacking in content of interest to me for now. I should sign up just to support the cause of a viable alternative to YouTube, though.
Blockchain is basically another means of decentralization, albeit different from PeerTube and the rest of the Fediverse.
I just looked it up. Here is my summary:
In 2015, a content distribution network called LBRY (pronounced “library”) was created. It uses blockchain to be very robust and censorship resistant and handle payments to content creators with its own built-in cryptocurrency. Then in 2020, Odysee was created as a way to easily view LBRY content without needing special software or skills.
LBRY is modeled after Bitcoin, but doesn’t actually store content on the blockchain. Instead, it stores metadata about content, including how to download the content from a P2P network, which I’m guessing is similar to a magnet URI. The LBRY website explains, “For the same reasons that nobody can prevent a Bitcoin transaction from taking place, nobody can prevent a transaction (like a publication or a tip) from appearing on the LBRY blockchain.” And although LBRY aims to be censorship resistant, Odysee can still censor whatever they choose.
