I2P support forum

Hi there, just out of curiosity:

When colonizing the moon or a planet, after the normal internet is set up for the first ten thousand inhabitants, how would Alice
and Bob initiate a new I2P network on that planet?

People come to I2P because they are passionate about the idea of a freer society. Once they get here, they unpack their big backpacks. It contains things like property, private banks, and cryptocurrency. Everything you need to build the same hierarchies they wanted to get away from.

Space is different. There is no ownership. There is anarchy, the absence of domination. Anarchy does not need money. Without money there is no gainful employment. Without gainful employment there is no reason to exploit planets. Alice and Bob and everybody else have equal rights and live their lives peacefully.

Literature tip: Ursula K. Le Guin »The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia« (1974)

So, how would it work technicaly?
For the I2P network to set up, I thought we need a "first connection" between two routers, or? And this first connection needs to be set up manually, right?
Or could just everybody install and run the java router, and the net would "come up by magic"? How would the first routers find each other, if there is no I2P net, yet?

I remember somewhere on github seeing a script that bootstraps a virtual network of i2pd instances (might update this post if i find it)

Edit: found something like it: https://github.com/l-n-s/i2pd-testnet-framework. Not sure if it works though, it was last updated 9 years ago.
And a more recent (7 years ago) version: https://github.com/l-n-s/testnet.py.

But basically: I think you would run a bunch of first routers, which would idle at first (because they don't know anyone and so can't do anything), and then get their RouterInfos together in a reseed bundle, and reseed all routers (including those first ones) with it.

lgillis wrote: ↑03 Mar 2025 18:34 People come to I2P because they are passionate about the idea of a freer society. Once they get here, they unpack their big backpacks. It contains things like property, private banks, and cryptocurrency. Everything you need to build the same hierarchies they wanted to get away from.

Space is different. There is no ownership. There is anarchy, the absence of domination. Anarchy does not need money. Without money there is no gainful employment. Without gainful employment there is no reason to exploit planets. Alice and Bob and everybody else have equal rights and live their lives peacefully.

Literature tip: Ursula K. Le Guin »The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia« (1974)

In 2050, after decades of SpaceX's tireless efforts, Elon Musk finally achieved his dream of establishing a human settlement on
Mars. The sprawling city, dubbed "Marsnet," was designed to be not only a self-sustaining colony but also the epitome of
technological advancement. It was built with his vision of total connectivity in mind - every home connected via Ethernet to a
centralized network backbone and IPv6 addressing, allowing for seamless data transfer across the entire world. But Musk's ambition
knew no bounds; he wanted to know everything about everyone who used these networks.

As Marsnet grew, so did concerns over privacy. Elon's desire for surveillance became insatiable, installing backdoors in the very
fabric of the network architecture that connected his Martian utopia. The colonists' activities were being monitored, watched and
recorded at an unprecedented scale. Data packets zipped across the vast distances between Earth and Mars, carrying sensitive
information about each inhabitant's life within them.

Alice and Bob, two brilliant hackers from Earth who had arrived on a mission to pioneer communication systems for the new colony,
noticed this trend disturbingly soon after landing. They quickly realized Musk's true motives were sinister - he aimed to construct
an omnipresent surveillance state where citizens' every move would be tracked and analyzed. Fearing repercussions if they went
through official channels, they turned to their illicit skills.

In secret, hidden within Marsnet's vast underbelly, Alice and Bob constructed a decentralized network, reminiscent of the early days
on Earth: I2P. They called it IMP (Invisible Marsnet Project).

produnis wrote: ↑05 Mar 2025 15:30 In 2050, […] They called it IMP (Invisible Marsnet Project).

Welcome to contemporary science fiction, the commercial dystopia.

As the author of a space opera, it would have been better to use only fictitious names, places and companies. The reader has to come up with the idea of who might be meant, which stimulates him and confirms his intelligence. It's different when real people are named. At the point where the name appears, the flow of reading is interrupted. This is where you divide your readership. One half adores this guy with financial superpowers and when they have to make a decision, you unfortunately get the short end of the stick. The other half does not want to be dragged by you into a realpolitik that divides rather than unites humanity. Because no matter how banal your own actions may seem, you secretly come here to make a positive difference. The idea that the near future will be determined by clowns is counterproductive.

If you want, then come over to discuss. It's no problem to write any nonsense there. There you can also explain how you solved the problem with cosmic rays.