How can we improve Namecoin adoption?

[Lorenzo]

Despite searching the forums, I'm surprised that this topic hasn't come up. Namecoin is an interesting and potentially innovative piece of technology. Development of it began while Satoshi was still posting in these forums although back then it was called BitDNS. The basic idea seems to be sound - a decentralized domain name system that can also be used as a generic distributed naming system.

Problem is, after four years, Namecoin adoption seems to have stalled. It's disappointing that there are so few websites using .bit domains and most domains have been taken up by squatters. The official FAQ says that the latter is not a huge problem and cites increased renewal fees as the answer but it's still the case that many useful and potentially valuable domains are now lost (e.g. namecoin.bit).

Do you think there is a place for Namecoin in the future? And if so, what will it be? Could Namecoin completely replace ICANN's existing DNS system and bring us closer to a fully decentralized Internet with companies like Google and Facebook using .bit domains (unlikely) or will its use largely be restricted to sites that are at risk of censorship (more likely)? And most importantly, what can we do to improve Namecoin adoption? I seem to remember seeing a service that translated Bitcoin addresses into short, simple names with the entries being stored in the NMC blockchain. I can't find any mention of it via searching on Google but projects like this could help bring widespread adoption of Namecoin one step closer to reality even if the DNS system itself doesn't reach widespread adoption.

[GTO911]

Why do we need a decentralized dns system. Can you explain?

[CIYAM]

It simply became a ridiculous squatting exercise that resulted in no-one being interested in using it.

Perhaps namecoin could have some better purpose in the future but unless someone comes up with a really good use case then I am not sure it will gain any traction.

[Lorenzo]

Why do we need a decentralized dns system. Can you explain?

A decentralized DNS systems frees up domain names from government and corporate control. Traditional domain names can be shut down by governments or blocked in entire countries, and indeed this has happened many times in the past. Governments also have the power to seize domain names and a decentralized solution would help to prevent such things from happening. Registering a domain name also means forfeiting a certain degree of privacy which might not be ideal for journalists, free speech activists, or anyone else who values their privacy.

Then there's the problem of reverse domain name hijacking (RDNH) which is most commonly perpetrated by large corporations. Examples include paint.biz and Canadian.biz. Despite being generic words, both domains were taken from their original owners although the latter was reversed on appeal. There are other examples too:

Many valuable domains have been targets of RDNH. These include a two-letter domain, DW.com, and country and city domains, including Mexico.com, NewZealand.com and StMoritz.com. Generic domains include Rain.com, Aroma.com, Decal.com, Hero.com, Mess.com, Ode.com, Prom.com and recently Elk.com. Many three-letter acronym domains have been targets of RDNH, but so have more obscure domains such as TheFetishFactory.com and domains in other gTLDs such as scubadiving.biz and downunder.travel.

It simply became a ridiculous squatting exercise that resulted in no-one being interested in using it.

Perhaps namecoin could have some better purpose in the future but unless someone comes up with a really good use case then I am not sure it will gain any traction.

Sadly, this is probably true.

[aurtur215]

I tried using it but you had to install a firefox plugin. You couldn't simply give someone your address to type into a browser. You had to get them to install the plugin before they could use your URL. It might take off if it worked without the plugin.

[BCwinning]

I'd like to find a way to get more people involved as well.
I've tried looking for popular sites that have a .bit presence and haven't found any yet.
Is there a search engine for it yet? I know a lot of names are taken but they sure don't have a site.
Or I have the plugin configured wrong but I don't think so. Easier plugins would be better too though.
I'm working on an idea for a .bit site actually that will drive interest/traffic to the namecoin idea.

[Lorenzo]

I tried using it but you had to install a firefox plugin. You couldn't simply give someone your address to type into a browser. You had to get them to install the plugin before they could use your URL. It might take off if it worked without the plugin.

It's an alternative DNS root so some type of plugin is required since browsers typically use ICANN's DNS system by default:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_DNS_root

I'd like to find a way to get more people involved as well.
I've tried looking for popular sites that have a .bit presence and haven't found any yet.
Is there a search engine for it yet? I know a lot of names are taken but they sure don't have a site.
Or I have the plugin configured wrong but I don't think so. Easier plugins would be better too though.
I'm working on an idea for a .bit site actually that will drive interest/traffic to the namecoin idea.

I'm not sure how old this is or if any of the sites are still working now but there is a list of some sites using .bit domains here:

http://www.meowbit.com/list-of-working-dot-bit-websites/

[BCwinning]

I tried using it but you had to install a firefox plugin. You couldn't simply give someone your address to type into a browser. You had to get them to install the plugin before they could use your URL. It might take off if it worked without the plugin.

It's an alternative DNS root so some type of plugin is required since browsers typically use ICANN's DNS system by default:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_DNS_root

I'd like to find a way to get more people involved as well.
I've tried looking for popular sites that have a .bit presence and haven't found any yet.
Is there a search engine for it yet? I know a lot of names are taken but they sure don't have a site.
Or I have the plugin configured wrong but I don't think so. Easier plugins would be better too though.
I'm working on an idea for a .bit site actually that will drive interest/traffic to the namecoin idea.

I'm not sure how old this is or if any of the sites are still working now but there is a list of some sites using .bit domains here:

http://www.meowbit.com/list-of-working-dot-bit-websites/

yea I'm using meowbit actually

[JohnnyBTCSeed]

other points to consider.

namecoin has some competition, nxt dns system, and bts dns system

namecoin has only had 1 fork, huntercoin.

And what's to come:

Over the last two or three months, our very own lead developer was awarded a donation of F2pool(Discus Fish) to re-implement Namecoin onto the latest Bitcoin Core (see https://github.com/domob1812/namecore/ ), improving and updating Namecoin's very old code (from around Bitcoin version 0.3). This is now being used by F2pool/Discuss Fish and others.

He is now in the early process of doing the same for Huntercoin, so that we will be able to see those great benefits also.  This will also enable to make use of pruning efforts being made upstream by the Bitcoin developers.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435170.msg10625130#msg10625130

[PolarPoint]

Namecoin is a nice alt which actually is useful. It is a shame .bit domain never took off. We need a cool site with a .bit domain to get more people to install the namecoin dns plugin.

[CIYAM]

Namecoin is a nice alt which actually is useful. It is a shame .bit domain never took off. We need a cool site with a .bit domain to get more people to install the namecoin dns plugin.

Again - with all the squatting it simply will never work.

Those that took all the .bit domain names just want to get rich so they don't care about the success of the tech at all (in their mind they invested 10 USD to try and get 1M USD and if that doesn't happen they are happy to just lose the 10 USD and see the whole thing fail).

You just need to *forget* about .bit as that will never happen.

[cakir]

Do I have to run my namecoind or qt to make my domain active?

Let's say I register blabla.bit with core wallet and then close wallet. Will it be available when I close my wallet? Or I've to run my wallet to keep it active to resolve dns?

[JohnnyBTCSeed]

are the .bit parked names worse then regular dns?



can other domains be added or will it forever be only .bit?



are there any linux distros that include namecoin? maybe ubuntu or mint?

[BCwinning]

Namecoin is a nice alt which actually is useful. It is a shame .bit domain never took off. We need a cool site with a .bit domain to get more people to install the namecoin dns plugin.

Again - with all the squatting it simply will never work.

Those that took all the .bit domain names just want to get rich so they don't care about the success of the tech at all (in their mind they invested 10 USD to try and get 1M USD and if that doesn't happen they are happy to just lose the 10 USD and see the whole thing fail).

You just need to *forget* about .bit as that will never happen.

never say never. Who's to say a fork won't happen that will fuck er fix the squatters.
Which needs to happen anyway to fix the issue.

[Nxtblg]

Namecoin is a nice alt which actually is useful. It is a shame .bit domain never took off. We need a cool site with a .bit domain to get more people to install the namecoin dns plugin.

Again - with all the squatting it simply will never work.

Those that took all the .bit domain names just want to get rich so they don't care about the success of the tech at all (in their mind they invested 10 USD to try and get 1M USD and if that doesn't happen they are happy to just lose the 10 USD and see the whole thing fail).

You just need to *forget* about .bit as that will never happen.

never say never. Who's to say a fork won't happen that will fuck er fix the squatters.
Which needs to happen anyway to fix the issue.

Actually, a fork undertook by a real techie could use IPv6 from the get-go. IPv6 hex numbers are free as in air right now, and will be for some time.

[CIYAM]

Actually, a fork undertook by a real techie could use IPv6 from the get-go. IPv6 hex numbers are free as in air right now, and will be for some time.

You do realise that the IP address has got *nothing to do with* don't you?

[Nxtblg]

Actually, a fork undertook by a real techie could use IPv6 from the get-go. IPv6 hex numbers are free as in air right now, and will be for some time.

You do realise that the IP address has got *nothing to do with* don't you?

Evidently not. Feel free to explain if you want.

[CIYAM]

Evidently not. Feel free to explain if you want.

You can map multiple names to a single IP address - but an IP address can only map to one name.

So the IP addresses don't need to be unique but the names do.

[Nxtblg]

Evidently not. Feel free to explain if you want.

You can map multiple names to a single IP address - but an IP address can only map to one name.

So the IP addresses don't need to be unique but the names do.

Oh yes, that's right. Thank you.

[But it would be neat if one name <=> one IPv6 address...just sayin'...] 

[trackstarleah]

Namecoin is a nice alt which actually is useful. It is a shame .bit domain never took off. We need a cool site with a .bit domain to get more people to install the namecoin dns plugin.

Again - with all the squatting it simply will never work.

Those that took all the .bit domain names just want to get rich so they don't care about the success of the tech at all (in their mind they invested 10 USD to try and get 1M USD and if that doesn't happen they are happy to just lose the 10 USD and see the whole thing fail).

You just need to *forget* about .bit as that will never happen.

Yea lmao. I met someone squatting tigerdirect.bit, namepros.bit, myspace.bit and more. Theres even one guy who owns google.bit and facebook.bit.