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+ − 1 =head1 AnoNet2 Introduction
+ − 2
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+ − 3 (Note: There's now L<a page explaining a bit about anonymity in general and its place in AnoNet in particular|http://www.anonet2.org/anonymity>.)
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+ − 4
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+ − 5 (Note: There's now L<a darknet comparison page, where you can compare and contrast the various darknet options|http://www.anonet2.org/darknet_comparison>).)
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+ − 6
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+ − 7 (Note: There's now L<a separate page, to answer all your AnoNet-related questions|http://www.anonet2.org/faq>).)
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+ − 8
+ − 9 So, you came across anoNet and thought it sounded great, so you decided
+ − 10 to join in order to check it out.
+ − 11
+ − 12 ...and found the (only) client port doesn't work half the time,
+ − 13
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+ − 14 ...and the (only) official wiki doesn't work the other half of the time,
+ − 15
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+ − 16 ...and most of the advertised services no longer exist,
+ − 17
+ − 18 ...and most of the people have left,
+ − 19
+ − 20 ...and those who are left can hardly be classified as friendly,
+ − 21
+ − 22 ...and so you left, and perhaps found another darknet instead.
+ − 23
+ − 24 Well, you're not the only one who's been turned off, and a few of us
+ − 25 have decided to take action and fix AnoNet. Some of us are relatively
+ − 26 new, while others joined AnoNet1 years ago, and left out of disgust.
+ − 27 A number of features set version 2 apart from the original:
+ − 28
+ − 29 =over
+ − 30
+ − 31 =item No false advertising
+ − 32
+ − 33 If you see something advertised here, it exists. You won't see stuff
+ − 34 that hasn't been up in years here. (This page is easy to update from
+ − 35 within AnoNet2 by anybody who has an update/correction to make, and
+ − 36 changes normally propagate within no more than a few days.)
+ − 37
+ − 38 =item No centralized network control
+ − 39
+ − 40 You don't have to worry about Kaos waking up one morning and blocking
+ − 41 your access to the whole network by deciding to filter private ASNs.
+ − 42 You also don't have to worry about a couple of powerful guys getting
+ − 43 together and "blacklisting" you from the network for some unspecified
+ − 44 reason with an inquisition against your peers.
+ − 45
+ − 46 =item No centralized IRC control
+ − 47
+ − 48 You don't have to worry about risc g-lining you from the "official" IRC
+ − 49 network for no apparent reason, and refusing to even admit to having
+ − 50 g-lined you. Since the whole purpose behind AnoNet was to create a
+ − 51 censorship-resistant alternative to the government-censored "public"
+ − 52 Internet, arbitrary censorship on the "official" AnoNet1 IRC network by
+ − 53 anonymous government members is particularly troubling. AnoNet2 has
+ − 54 no "official" IRC network, and the servers most commonly used have
+ − 55 interesting channels bridged with a relay bot, so even if you manage to
+ − 56 annoy an IRC server operator to the point where he decides to g-line you
+ − 57 from his whole "network," that doesn't automatically prevent you from
+ − 58 connecting to another server and accessing one of the bridged channels.
+ − 59 (Obviously, if you manage to annoy the operators of all the linked servers
+ − 60 to the point where all of them g-line you from their respective "networks"
+ − 61 and nobody wants to let you relay your own server in, then you're probably
+ − 62 out of luck. Of course, that doesn't prevent you from running your own
+ − 63 IRC server, and those who want to hear you can still join it.)
+ − 64
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+ − 65 =item No centralized wiki control
+ − 66
+ − 67 AnoNet2 doesn't have an official wiki, and two (L<this one|http://www.anonet2.org/> and L<some random wiki|http://www.somerandomwiki.ano/>) out of the three well-known wikis on AnoNet2 use git for their underlying storage, and are therefore very easy for anybody to proxy, mirror, fork, etc. (The last one is L<UFO's wiki|http://wiki.ucis.ano/>, and UFO is addicted to MediaWiki.) (BTW, we now have a fourth "well-known" wiki, L<our AnoNet1 Wiki Mirror|Http://1.82.98.27/mediawiki/>: Since AnoNet1's official wiki seems to have more downtime than uptime, we figured we might as well donate a mirror to the cause.)
+ − 68
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+ − 69 =item No resource mess
+ − 70
+ − 71 We have one mechanism for resource management, a decentralized (not just
+ − 72 distributed, but truly decentralized) resource database. You don't have
+ − 73 to deal with half a zillion incompatible (and in the case of the wiki,
+ − 74 down) services, run by guys who may not even be on the AnoNet tomorrow.
+ − 75 Managing your resources is as simple as taking a VI to the appropriate
+ − 76 files, doing a "git commit," and then just waiting for everybody else to
+ − 77 pull your changes (either directly from you, or indirectly from others
+ − 78 who pull from you).
+ − 79
+ − 80 =item No arbitrary rules
+ − 81
+ − 82 If you read the advertising for AnoNet, you probably think it's whatever
+ − 83 you make of it. Sadly, there's a tiny handful of people who have control
+ − 84 over most of the network, and make new (unwritten) rules whenever the
+ − 85 mood strikes them. The sum of those rules is that AnoNet is whatever
+ − 86 I<they> make of it. In version 2, we've undertaken to fix that, by both
+ − 87 technical and administrative means. AnoNet2 not only has no arbitrary
+ − 88 rules - it has no rules whatsoever.
+ − 89
+ − 90 =back
