Post
An important aspect of computing networking is indicating whom we're talking to. Who should pay attention to the messages, & where the messages should be forwarded.
The trick is in assigning unique names to everyone! Typically achieved using *some* sort of authority.
For USB this authority is your "host" computer! For the internet there's a whole lot more delegation centering on IANA.
Though we can use other strategies!
1/2!
Zooko's Triangle suggests that when assigning names to devices we need to sacrifice either peer-to-peer, human-legibility, or uniqueness. Though I suppose blockchain's an (ugly) way around this.
If we want uniqueness & peer-to-peer we can select IDs at random & check if they're taken. If we want human-legibility & peer-to-peer each device can track what it personally calls everyone else. And if we want human legibility & uniquness... DNS does a truly impressive job at it!
2/2!
Install bonfire.cafe
Get the full app experience
